Shy
by iluvjb4ever123
Summary: Her mom transferred jobs again causing her to start over at a new high school. She instantly becomes friends with two people but she catches the glance of a guy in her class. Will she be too shy to ever introduce herself to him? Niley.
1. First Day, New Friends

**a/n: I thought of this idea when I was watching Cinderella 3: A Twist in Time. Yeah, I know... my ideas come to me at weird times. I was texting my friend and telling her a little about the plot and told me to continue to add to it. So I did, this is for you Jenn... haha yes I mentioned her in the story xp. The whole story's going to be in Miley's point of view.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. Just the plot. Enjoy.**

I looked in the mirror, making sure that each hair was in its place. It was my first day of my sophomore year at the new high school. I had to make sure I looked decent. I sighed; I didn't really try much with my outfit. I was wearing a pair of ripped jeans, a white T, and some worn out converses. My hair was flat, as always. I finished telling myself how nice I looked, clearly lying to myself.

"Miley!" I heard my mom call from the kitchen. "You better hurry up or you're going to miss your bus." She said. I grabbed my backpack off the chair, putting it on while I walked out to the kitchen.

"You look nice." My mom said, smiling.

"Right..." I said, "So why can't you drive me to school again?" I asked, grabbing a piece of burned toast from the floral plate in front of my mother.

"I have to get to work early today, and this is a really good time for you to meet new people, make new friends." She said and opened up the dishwater, setting the dirty dishes in.

"It's high school, mom not 3rd grade. There are cliques stereotypes, and since I'm starting school this late, I'm not going to fit in." I said, taking a bite of the bitter toast.

"Why are you so negative? It's like you take after you father." She said bitterly as her hands landed on her hips

"I'm not negative." I muttered. "I'm just telling you the truth."

My mom arched her eyebrow, ready to say something when she saw the bus pull up on the curb. "Have a good day, okay." She said, wiping her hands then kissing me on the forehead.

I rolled my eyes. "That's not possible." I mumbled and opened the door and walked out to the bus.

"Good morning," The bus driver greeted me when I got on.

I gave her a small smile and continued walking down the aisle of the bus, attracting several stares from the students.

"Who is she?" Someone whispered, loud enough for me to hear.

"I don't know, probably a new kid." Another said loudly.

I finally reached the back of the bus, taking a seat as quickly as I could, making the two girls on the other side turn to see who I was. They were practically burning a whole on the side of my face.

"Who's she?" One of the girls asked.

"Who cares?" The other scoffed.

I scooted farther away, getting as close as I could to the wall of the bus as possible. I hated starting over, especially when it was in the middle of the school year. It was going to be hard making new friends. I'm quiet, everyone ignores the quiet one. Today was just the beginning of the worst.

"Yo!" A deep voice called. I didn't bother looking up, they probably wasn't talking to me anyways.

"Hey." They said again and I turned. "I see you're new here." He said, smiling genuinely. I continued staring at him, afraid that my voice would squeak if I said a word.

"Does she talk?" He asked one of the girls on the other side. I could see the envy burning in their eyes that this guy was talking to me and not them. They shook their heads and continued on with their conversation about designer handbags and what not.

He turned back around. "I'm Joe." He said, putting his hand out.

I put my hand out, shaking it slightly. "Miley." I squeaked and I pulled my hand away, embarrassed of how squeaky my voice was.

"Nice name. I never heard of it before." Joe said, trying to make the conversation last a bit longer. I nodded, wanting the conversation to end as soon as possible.

"Do you have your schedule?" Joe asked.

I shook my head. "First day." I said my voice still squeaky. I seriously felt like slapping myself on the face.

"Oh, I can show you around." _Did I just make a friend?_ "But, you're going to have to talk to me." He said, waiting for me to say something.

"Uhm thanks." I managed to say. The bus suddenly came to stop, telling us that we had reached our destination.

_School._

We got off the bus and started walking through the front doors of the school. It was bigger than the other high school I went to. This school actually had lockers. Actual lockers for me to put my heavy books in. _Thank You._

"The office is this way." Joe said, nodding his head to the other direction. I walked beside him, an awkward silence falling over us as we walked down the crowded halls.

"How can I help you?" The office lady asked.

"She's new here and needs her schedule." Joe answered before I could say anything.

"Can she talk?" The lady asked.

"Yes." I said, tired of people asking that.

"Last name." She asked, in a bored tone.

"Stewart." I said in a low tone.

"What was that?" She asked again.

"Stewart." I said a little louder.

She typed in my name, printing out a white sheet, scribbling something on it before handing it to me. "I'm sure Mr. Gray will be able to help you find your classes." She told me. I nodded and we walked out to the now empty hallways.

"What's your first class?" Joe asked.

"Uhm, P.E." I said, looking at my schedule.

"Bummer." He said. "I'll meet you in front of the Gym after class." He told me and walked the other direction, leaving me wandering around trying to find the gymnasium. I finally found the building and walked in. Two of the classes were in the middle of a dodge ball game. I walked towards the coach, trying to avoid the flying balls that flying around.

"Below the waist!" The coach yelled as I approached her. "Why, hello." She greeted with a smile.

"I'm new…" I said, my voice trailing off.

She took my schedule, making sure I was in the correct class. "Nice to meet you Miley. I'm Miss Saunders." She said.

"Hi." I said quietly.

"You can sit down and watch." She said and turned her attention back to the game. "What part of below the waist do you not understand?" She yelled to the crowd of teenagers left in the game.

"I'm Jenn." I heard a girl from beside me. I turned to face her.

"I'm Miley…" I said unsure.

"Wow, you have such a beautiful name." Jenn said.

"Thanks." I said, smiling a little.

"Who's your teacher?" She asked.

"Saunders…" I replied.

"Really? She's my teacher too." She said smiling.

"Awesome." I said awkwardly.

Time passed on slowly as Jenn asked me what felt like a hundred questions about me and where I came from and why I chose to some to this school. I returned the usual 'how about you?' every once in a while. Soon, the two coaches blew their whistles, telling us it was time to go in. I got up and started to walk out, bumping into a kid along the way.

"Sorry." I mumbled and he looked down at me. My cheeks flustered and I looked down, hurrying out of the room as fast as I could.

Jenn was soon behind me. "Gee, thanks so much for waiting for me." She said giggling.

"Sorry, it was just stuffy in there." I said, lying.

We walked into the locker-room; I froze when I saw the girls changing right then and there in front of their P.E. lockers.

"What's wrong?" Jenn asked.

"We change in front of each other?" I asked.

"Uhh yeah, didn't you do that at your old school?" She asked and I shook my head. "Wow, you went to a weird school." She said, opening her locker. "I thought it was required to do that at every school."

"Uhm, I'm going to go ask for my locker." I said softly and left.

"Hello… Miley right?" Coach Saunders asked when I walked into the Coach's Office.

I nodded. "I uhm need my locker." I mumbled.

"You're sure quiet." She said as she looked up an open locker on her computer. I nodded and my eyes darted around the room. There were a lot of pictures of her and the other female coach. They must've been really good friends.

"Do you have your schedule with you?" She asked and I took it out, handing it to her. She scribbled the locker number and combination on the back of it. "Make sure you don't give this to anyone. We don't want you to get your things stolen." She told me and I thanked her and walked back to Jenn.

"What locker do you have?" She asked already changed in her normal clothes.

"Uhm, 364." I told her and looked around.

"That's on the other side." She pointed.

"That's great." I muttered quietly.

"Can I see your schedule?" She asked and I handed it to her.

"Wow, we have a lot of classes together." She said and I thanked God quietly.

"Hey, do you know a Joe Gray?" I blurted out suddenly. She looked away from the piece of paper in her hands and up at me.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to just burst out like that." I said.

"It's okay, yeah I know him. He's my brother." She said and we started walking out of the locker-room.

"Well isn't it a small world." I said.

"I'm guessing you've met him?" She asked handing me back my schedule.

"Yeah." I said, not watching where I was going and walked into someone's backpack. They turned around, trying to see who had bumped into them. "Sorry." I said, not looking up at them but down at their feet.

"You can stop looking at her now." Jenn said them and pulled me away.

"Who was it?" I asked.

"Oh, just Nick." She said.

I turned back and saw it had been the same guy I had bumped into earlier. He looked up and caught my gaze before I looked down quickly and focused my attention to the dirt on my converses.

**a/n: so… what do you guys think? REVIEW please (:**


	2. Knees Touch, Tingles Form

**a/n: YAY for foggy day delays. xD For some reason, I don't like this part. I wrote it while watching Spongebob and he really isn't good inspiration but I wrote out the third part and it's pretty decent better than this one ;D REVIEW!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. Just the Plot.**

Shy; Part Two.

"So…" Jenn said, noticing my glance down to my shoes. "What do you think of the school so far?" She asked.

"It's cool, I guess." I said quietly and the bell rang.

"Seen any cute boys yet?" She asked, smiling.

"Uhm, no.." I replied blushing then looked up. "Where are we going?" I asked.

"Its break time, we get ten minutes to ourselves before heading to class." She told me.

"Oh." I replied, looking around. I found the cafeteria. A couple seconds later Joe walked up beside Jenn.

"Hey squirt." Joe said, ruffling Jenn's hair in the process.

"Joe!" Jenn said annoyed and started fixing her hair again.

"Hey new kid." He said to me.

"She has a name you know." Jenn said, still mad at Joe for messing up her hair.

"I know. Milly right?" He asked. I couldn't tell if he was joking or not.

"Miley." I said.

"I knew that." He replied, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. He really didn't know my name.

"Right…" Jenn said as we continued walking to wherever we were going.

"What do you guys do at break?" I asked, curious.

"Eat." Joe said simply.

Jenn rolled her eyes, "He eats, everyone else just talks and hang out. Which means I'll be introducing you to everyone." She told me, looking away from my reaction.

"What?" I asked, my heart racing.

"See, first day isn't so bad. You're going to make like fifty new friends." Joe said.

I gulped. "If you say so." I said.

"Okay…" Jenn said as we approached a mass of people. I should've figured they were in the 'popular' crowd. Not the whole jocks and cheerleaders popular but the group of people that were known by everyone in the school. I was now more nervous than I had been the whole day.

"Hey everyone!" Jenn yelled, everyone turned to see who was calling them. All eyes were on me, a familiar pair of eyes looked at Jenn confusingly to see what she was going to say next. I looked down flustered, I hated being the center of attention.

"This is Miley." She told everyone. There were a couple nods and hellos from the crowd. Most had turned back around to their conversations, not caring about meeting me.

"Who does your sister think she is?" I heard someone mumble to the guy that I had bumped into. He was dressed in a graphic T and wearing dark jeans with Nikes. This group knew what was in and what was out. I looked down at my outfit. I'm guessing I'm out.

Nick shrugged and turned back around.

"Forget them" Jenn said and turned to a group of girls that had crowded around me.

"Uhm, hi." I mumbled and played with my fingers as they eyed me. Joe had walked off to the crowd of the boys when Jenn started to introduce the girls.

"This is Meg, Angie, Melissa and—hey where's Yanny?" She asked the girls.

"Uhm, I think she went over there." Angie, said pointing to the left.

"No, she went that way." Meg pointed to the right.

"How do you know? You never pay attention." Angie retorted.

"I do so pay attention. You're just all googly-eyed at your crush." Meg replied.

"That was supposed to stay between us!" Angie exclaimed.

Jenn laughed nervously. "Yeah… they do that on a daily basis. Let's go introduce you to the guys." Jenn said, pulling me away from the bickering girls.

"Jenn, don't leave me with them." Melissa whined but Jenn just waved and we made our way to the group of boys. There were all in a circle surrounding the kid that had mumbled the question earlier. People threw in words in hopes of adding to the rap that they were making.

"Ahem." Jenn said, clearing her throat, causing all the boys to stop what they were doing and turn to her.

"We were kind of in the middle of something." One of the guys told her, irritated that she had interrupted their break again.

"You guys always do that. Take a break and say hi to Miley."

"Hey." They all mumbled except for three boys.

"Hi." I said back shyly.

Noticing Nick's glance at Miley, "Why don't you say hi instead of staring Nick." Jenn said.

I looked at him and saw him eyeing what I was wearing, feeling more nervous I looked down not looking at Jenn or Nick.

The first bell rang and I heard Jenn mutter a finally as Nick walked away, not saying a word to me. Everyone shuffled into class. Jenn took a seat in the back next to Meg and they started their own little conversation as I walked up to the teacher's desk. He was writing on the white board. _Holocaust_. _My favorite subject._ I thought sarcastically to myself.

"Uhmm…" I said, making him turn around.

"Can I help you?" He asked, pushing his glasses up.

"I'm a new student." I said, handing him my schedule.

Mr. Arnold." He said. "Nice to meet you. You can take a seat next to Mr. Gray." He told me and turned around and continued writing down notes on the board.

_Joe's in Sophomore history?_ I thought and turned around. The only empty seat in the class was next to Nick. My mouth dried up as I walked towards my seat and sat down. _Jenn didn't tell me they were related._

"Great." I heard him mumble quietly. _Did I do something?_

"Okay class, I want to introduce you guys to the new student." Mr. Arnold said and I got more nervous. _Please don't make me talk in front of the class._

"Why don't you introduce yourself to the class." He said, sitting down at his desk now. I sat there as everyone turned to look at me. I got up slowly, my chair bumping into the desk behind me.

"Not a word." The teacher told the student behind me then nodding for me to start.

"I'm.. M.. Miley." I stuttered.

"Hurry up." The kid behind me said, causing the teacher to give him a look and he got quiet.

"Is there anything else you want to share?" Mr. Arnold asked me. I shook my head and sat down quickly. My heart was still racing like I had just ran a marathon.

"Well then." Mr. Arnold said, standing up. "Let's get all of you guys started on the lesson."

--

I kept my attention down on my paper, writing vigorously. I knew all of this stuff. I didn't dare to look up from my paper, afraid that someone would be staring at me. My left hand was on my thigh as I continued writing. He shifted in his seat, his knee bumping into mine causing a tingle to run through my leg. He didn't move his knee away from mine. I shifted in my seat uncomfortably, moving my knee away. He looked at me, probably wondering why I was moving so much.

"I know we just finished a project, but we're about to start a new one." Mr. Arnold said, passing out the rubric. "You'll need to get into teams of 2 or 3. The project will require your group to prepare a skit and perform it to class." He said and I slumped down into my seat. _I hate presentations._

"It will need to be a minimum of 5 minutes. Each person has to say at least 4 lines…" He said, continuing reading the instructions to everyone. "As an added challenge, the team with the best skit will earn 25 extra credit points." This caused the whole class to start talking.

I looked back at Jenn to see her whispering to Meg. I sighed. "Will we get to choose our partners?" Nick asked. This was the first time I had him talk.

Mr. Arnold pondered the question for a bit before answering. "No." He said and the class groaned. "I think it'll be a great idea for me to choose your partners." He said, looking at his role sheet now. _Please pair me up with Meg and Jenn._

He looked at me and then around the class. "Hmm, Miley Stewart, Jenn Gray, and Meg Lovato.

I looked up at the teacher and he smiled at me reassuringly, continuing reading off the groups. I turned around and saw Jenn giving me two thumbs up while Meg laughed at Jenn. The bell rang and I stuffed everything into my backpack. Two classes down, four more to go.

"I can't wait until we start the project." Jenn said to me, excitedly.

"I hate presentations." I said.

"What? Why? I love them!" She said.

"You like talking in front of the class, while everyone's undivided attention's on you?" I asked her.

"Yes, I love talking." She told and we walked into the math class.

"Do we have assigned seats in here?" I asked, changing the subject.

"No, Miss Lopez is laid back. She doesn't care where you sit." Jenn said.

"Cool." I said and walked up to the teacher's desk.

"Hey sweetheart." Miss Lopez said and I smiled a little.

"I'm new." I said and she looked at my schedule.

"Take a seat anywhere you want, I'm Miss Lopez." She told me.

I nodded and walked back over to Jenn, taking a seat next to her.

"Okay, let's start the lesson--" Miss Lopez started before she got cut off.

"Wow, your hair looks amazing." Angie said.

"Why, thank you. I just got a hair cut." Miss Lopez told Angie smiling.

"You did? Well it looks really nice." Angie said, trying to get Miss Lopez distracted from the lesson.

"Remind me to thank Angie later." Jenn whispered to me and I nodded.

"So uhm.. Nick's your bother too?" I asked.

"Half brother. We have the same dad but different moms." She told me.

"Oh." I said.

"Don't take his silence and constant mutterings as a bad thing. He does that to all the new people he judges." Jenn said, writing in her notebook.

"Do you have any other siblings?" I asked.

"Yeah, Yanny. I jut don't know where she went…" She said, laughing a little.

"Can't wait to meet her." I said.

--

My stomach growled and Jenn looked at me weird. "Is it lunch time yet?" I asked, trying to stop my stomach from growling. It was extremely quiet in English and everyone had turned around at us to see what the noise was.

The bell rang, answering my question. "Yeah, now." She said and we walked out and I bumped into someone again, this time dropping all of my things onto the floor.

"Dude, she must like you. That's her third time today." The kid in the graphic T said laughing. Nick shook his head and continued walking down the hall, getting glances from many girls. He stopped and gave a couple of them hugs.

I stared at him while I kneeled down and picked up my belongings from the floor before standing up again.

"What are you doing?" Jenn asked, seeing me stare at Nick.

"Nothing." I said quickly. She arched her eyebrows suspiciously ready to say something when Joe came up behind her, poking her on her sides causing her to scream. _Thank you Joe._

**a/n: There's part two ;D What do you guys think of the story so far? Yes, Nick seems jerkish and quiet.. he sounds like Edward at the beginning of Twilight but no he isn't a vampire… or is he? I don't know I haven't written that far xD REVIEW! (:**


	3. Off to DreamWorld

**a/n: guys I'm having some difficulties with Heavily Broken. So I might not update that one for a while…**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters. Just the plot. Enjoy. (: We all wish we could own the Jonas Brothers but sadly we don't. :'(**

Shy; Part Three

"Joe!" Jenn snapped, pushing his hands away from her.

"Geez, chill. You always ruin the fun for me." Joe said as Jenn crossed her arms.

"So… lunch." I said after a few moments of silence, trying to get them to walk to the cafeteria with me.

"Oh, we don't eat." Joe told me and my eyes widened.

"You guys don't eat?!" I said.

"What he meant was, we don't eat the school food it just isn't how do I put this… not like the food we at home." Jenn replied.

"Didn't Joe eat school food at break?" I asked and Jenn looked a Joe.

"No, those were homemade cookies." Joe replied.

"The chocolate chips ones?" Jenn asks through clenched teeth.

"Yeah, those. They were delicious." He answered smiling while Jenn whacked his arm. "What the heck?" He asked, rubbing his arm.

"I was saving those for later. Didn't you see the pink sticky note saying DO NOT EAT?" Jenn muttered angrily.

"What sticky note?" Joe asked, confused.

"Forget it! I'll just make more." Jenn said, throwing her hands up.

"More cookies?!" Joe asks excitedly.

"For everyone except you, you cookie stealer." Jenn said to Joe while pulling me away, leaving Joe standing there alone.

"So, I'm just going to starve now?" I asked as we approach Angie.

"You starve yourself?!" Angie asked loudly, making a few people turn around.

"No! I'm just really hungry right now." I said, hoping people would turn back around. There were a few long stares before it was just the three of us again.

"Oh, okay." She shrugged and I looked at Jenn.

She sighed. "Fine, I'll go eat with you." She said and we walked toward the cafeteria, getting glances from a couple of guys along the way. They must've been looking at Jenn.

--

I quickly took my sandwich out of its plastic wrap. I didn't really like turkey but I was hungry so it didn't really matter anymore. I started taking big bites out of my sandwich, sipping a drink of water every once in a while.

"Are you sure this is edible?" Jenn asked, poking at her wrapped sandwich.

"It tasted pretty good to me." I shrugged, rolling up the plastic and Jenn's jaw drops. "What?" I ask.

"You ate that so fast. It was like BAM! It's gone." She said and I laughed.

"Well, I said I was hungry and when I'm hungry I can eat a horse." I replied and Jenn looks at me funny. "It's just an expression." I tell her.

"Oh, right... so have you gone to your locker yet?" She asked as we threw our trash into the gray trash can. We walk out of the cafeteria, Nick glancing over at us for a moment before turning back to talk to Kyle. _I think Kyle's was his name or was it Bryan?_ I ask myself.

I shook my head at Jenn, "I don't really mind holding my books."

"You don't mind holding 20 pound books around all day?" She asked.

"Well if you put it that way. I guess I don't…" I said as she pulled me into the hallway. "Wow, its uhm empty." I said.

"Well yeah, everyone's outside." She said and I took out my schedule.

"27." She read from beside me. "Hey, that's close to Nick's." She told me and I felt a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach.

"What?" I croaked out.

"What?" She repeated, confused by my reaction. I must've looked like I wanted to throw up.

"Nothing, never mind." I said, turning and found my locker and tried to open it.

"Careful, the—" Jenn started to say before there was a loud _thud!_ and I was on the floor holding my head.

"Ow…" I said, rubbing my forehead where it had made contact with the locker.

"Are you okay?" Jenn asked me as she helps me up.

"Uhm yeah." I tell her, still rubbing my forehead. I could already feel the bruise starting to form.

"That's what I hate about the lock—" She screamed, causing me to cover my ears. "Step on it!" She yelped and I turned to see a huge spider crawling out of the locker.

"Oh my God!" I exclaimed.

"Kill it!" She said again, standing behind me now.

"I…I… run!" I said and grabbed her arm and started running. We finally got back outside, getting a few weird looks from the Juniors and Seniors.

"Ew ew ew." She repeated, shuddering.

"Jenn, where have you been?" Someone asked from behind.

Jenn turned around, "Yanny!" She smiled and hugged the girl tightly. "I've been looking for you all day."

I stood there awkwardly, my eyes wandering around the school. Watching everyone, then I stared back at where Jenn and her friends hung out and saw Joe flirting with a girl in a teal colored shirt and dark skinny jeans. My eyes wandered down the line as I tried to remember everyone's name. _Austin, Stephanie, George… _My eyes stopped on one boy in particular. His style was pretty simple. Just a white T, dark jeans, and red converses. It was quite similar to the outfit I was wearing, but he looked incredible while I just looked like I had thrown my outfit on in five minutes and I was done, which I did. He was laughing at something, showing off his perfect teeth in the process and I began to smile.

"What is she doing?" I heard Yanny whisper.

"Going off to Dreamworld." Jenn answers back, giggling.

He stopped laughing and looked up, catching my gaze. I turn around quickly and stare at two giggling girls.

"Welcome back." Jenn said. I looked down, blushing.

"I'm Yanny." Yanny said, putting her hand out.

"Miley." I replied, looking up and shook her hand lightly.

"You have really pretty eyes." She said as she let go of my hand.

"Thanks." I say to her, still flushed about what happened a minute earlier.

"I'm going to head over to the others, are you guys coming?" Yanny asked us.

"Yeah, be there in a minute." Jenn replied as Yanny left. "What's up?" She asked me.

"What's up with what?" I ask.

"You've been staring at Nick all day, there has to be a reason behind it." Jenn said curious.

"I always stare at people." I replied.

"But, you've been staring at him ALL DAY," Repeating what she said earlier.

"I know, I have a staring problem. Don't worry; he's no one special I just tend to over stare." I tell her, hoping she drops the subject.

"Alright, I believe you." She said, still not completely buying my excuse. We walk over, meeting up with the others.

"Hi." I say quietly and everyone turns away from me and I look down.

"Hey." Meg said, causing me to look up. "We should hang out sometime, you know so we can work for the project."

"That's a great idea! We should go to my house today after school." Jenn said smiling.

"I can't. I have uhm a dentist appointment?" I said it more like a question.

"Oh, that sucks. I hate dentists." Meg replied blandly, causing Jenn to laugh. _I didn't get it. _The lunch bell rings and Jenn hugs me, my arms still dangling at my sides.

"Why are you hugging me?" I asked.

"Well, I don't have Spanish with you and I don't know if I'll see you after school. So, I'm hugging you goodbye now." She replied.

"Oh…" I said and everyone started walking away. I took out my schedule. _Room 1101._ I saw a big 11 on the side building beside the cafeteria and walked over it, seeing a big crowd around the door.

"I can't believe she's late… again." Kyle said and everyone, but they didn't seem to notice.

_Was he in all of my classes?_ I asked myself as I saw a familiar face, talking to a girl on the bench next to the cafeteria. She was giggling and he was holding her hand slightly. _Must be his girlfriend._ I thought sadly and shook my head, trying to get him out of my mind. The door opened and everyone rushed into the air-conditioned room. I walk up to the teacher's desk, handing her my schedule. Only to get a head nod and I turn around slowly to see everyone staring back at me. I nervously take a seat quickly in the back corner, dreading for this class period to end.

--

My wish is finally fulfilled as I heard the bell ring and kids rushing out of their seats, ready to go home after a long day of school. I took my phone out of my pocket, having forgotten that it was in there the whole day. _4 Missed Calls._ All from mom, I quickly dialed her number, waiting impatiently for her to pick up.

"Hello?" Her voice fills my ears.

"Mom, are you picking me up?" I ask.

"I'm sorry honey; I'm running late at the office. I won't be home until 6, why don't you take the bus home and order a pizza." She tells me and I sigh.

"Alright. I'll see you later." I mumbled and shut my phone not bothering to say bye. I knew this would happen. She would get overflowed with work and then after we finally get comfy she's going to have to transfer yet again. I wasn't taking the bus again, I'll walk.

I walk down the hall silently, ignoring the constant whisperings around me. _Was I really that interesting that I had to be talked about? _My hand reached for the handle as I open the door, coming face to face with Nick. I quickly looked own and continue walking down the steps and took a left and start walking home. _Why does this keep happening?_ I decided to text Oliver to see how he was doing.

_To: Oliver._

_From: Miley._

_Hey Ollie. Just wanted 2 c how u were doing. Txt me bck._

I pressed send and returned my phone back into my front pocket. A few miles and an hour later, I finally reach my house and remembered that my mom hadn't given me a key yet. I sighed and sat down on the front steps, resting my worn out feet and waited for mom to come home. That would be in another 2 hours. I didn't have anyone else to call, I knew not to make any close friends at my old school already knowing that I'd have leave them soon, but then I met Oliver and just like that a new friendship had formed between us, but before we knew it I was at home, packing my bags ready to leave to the next state my mom had her new job at. Hopefully, this one will stick a little longer than the others and I'll finally be able to make _actual _friends.

I checked my phone again, reading the time. _3:32._ Only two minutes had passed since I had sat down. _Maybe I could climb through a window. _I thought and stood up, dusting off the back of my pants and walked over to the side door. Opening it and walking into the backyard. To my surprise, the screen door was open. _How could my mother be so careless?_ I walked in and set my backpack down, flopping onto the couch and thought about what happened today only to get my mind flooded up with thoughts of _him._

**a/n: Part three (: Any ideas on what you think can happen next? Man, as I'm typing this, I can't help but feel sorry for how Miley feels. I've had to go through with the going to a new school crap. IT SUCKS! But at least she made friends lol. REVIEW! :)**


	4. The Hurtful Goodbye

**a/n: ehh, this part was more of a filler part. But I like it, I kind of cried while writing it, but that's only because I cry about everything lol. HAPPY VALENTINE's DAY. (:**

**Disclaimer: I don't any of the characters. Just the plot.**

Shy; Part Four

My eyes drooped lazily as I battled against sleep. My eyes fluttering open and close every few minutes finally letting them shut close, I fell asleep.

--

"Miley." I heard my mom call me from the garage. I stirred but remained on the couch, opening my eyes slowly. She walked in holding a bulky manila folder in one hand and holding a big red KFC bucket in the other.

"I have dinner for us." She told me as she set it onto the counter.

I sat up, taking in the smell. I crinkled my nose in disgust. "How could we eat that?" I asked and got up, stretching my limbs.

"It's just chicken, hun. We're going to eat it and then it'll come out of us later." My mom said to me while taking two plates out of the cupboard.

"I'm not eating that." I tell her as I approach the counter, keeping my distance from the chicken.

"You never eat anything I bring home, how do I know you eat at all? That's why you look like a twig." She said, setting the plates down a little too loudly.

"Maybe because the only food you bring home is fast food, I'm surprised we aren't obese yet!" I retorted back at her.

"Sit down and eat your dinner." She said firmly, rubbing her temples in the process.

Annoyed, I grabbed a plate from the stack in front of my mom and took 2 pieces of chicken from the red bucket and walked to my room angrily, kicking the door closed as I walked in. Setting the plate on one of the unopened boxes, I decided to do a little more unpacking. I grabbed a box from the corner of my room and dumped out all of its content. I hated this box; it held so many good memories of the family, when we were _actually _a family. I guess the phrase _'People Change, Promises are Broken'_, fit my parents well. It was exactly what had happen…

_Flashback:_

_9 months ago…_

_I was in my room, my attention focused on the blank poster board in front of me. My pencil slowly drawing a line over the smooth surface, hearing a scream come from outside, it caused me to move my hand upward. Making the once straight line into a jagged one. I grabbed my eraser, grazing it furiously over the board and started again with my line, only to get interrupted once again. I got up from my desk, walking over to the door, opening it slightly before peering my head into the hallway._

"_What is this?" My mother screamed at my father while holding up what seemed to look like an article of clothing. Underwear._

"_It's yours!" He retorted back at her in the same tone. My dad wasn't that good of a liar. This hadn't been the first time he was lying about this subject. I even walked in on him and his mistress once but promised to keep it from mom because I knew it'd kill her, but I guess she figured it out on her own._

"_I don't wear this!" She screeched, throwing the item in my dad's face._

"_Maybe if you did, I'd be more satisfied. I wouldn't have to go around sleeping with other woman!" He yelled back, my mom's hand making contact with his cheek. A red mark forming on the side of his cheek. I couldn't believe my dad just threw away a 17 year marriage. He should be apologizing, telling my mom how much he loved her and that it was a mistake._

"_I've had enough of this! I'm leaving!" He yelled, walking into their bedroom, my mom following right behind. I walked closely behind, standing in the doorway, tears threatening to fall from my eyes._

"_Leave and don't ever come back!" She choked through the tears streaming down her face. "I hate you!" She yelled as he stuffed his belongings into a bag._

"_Don't worry about it." He replied, no emotion showing in his voice. My mom was crying hysterically now. We're they really ready to end their marriage? My dad turned to walk out of the bedroom with the bag over his shoulder, stopping when he say me standing there._

"_What are you doing dad?" I asked, tears flowing freely down my face now._

_He walked over to me, his hand resting on my cheek, brushing the tears away from my eyes. "Stay strong for mom, okay. She needs you. I need you to be a good girl and take care of her." He told me._

"_No, dad you can't leave us." I sobbed, hugging him tightly._

"_Mom doesn't want me here anymore. You got to understand, we're just not meant to be." He muttered, prying me away from him._

"_No, you can't say that. Mom loves you. I love you. We love you!" I yelled._

"_What did I say about being strong?" He growled, wiping away more tears falling from my eyes._

"_We can't be strong without you…" I murmured._

"_I love you sweetheart, don't ever forget that." He murmured softly and kissed my forehead, before I knew it he was gone._

_I ran over to my mom, holding her as we both cried onto each other's shoulder, both of us shaking uncontrollably. I can't believe he's really gone._

_End Flashback._

I wiped away the tears that had fallen from my eyes. Just thinking about what had happened that night broke me down into pieces. I haven't heard from my dad since then. His phone was disconnected when I tried to call him once. _Did he really want to be out of our lives that bad?_

"Miles…" My mom said, knocking on my door. _Crap._ I thought as I stood up, looking into my mirror making sure my eyes weren't that puffy.

"Come in." I said, throwing myself onto my bed and grabbed the book off my side desk.

She walked in, an apologetic look written over her face. "I'm sorry about earlier." She said, sitting on the end of my bed.

I set the book down again and scooted next to her. "It's okay; I should just eat what you bring home." I said as I rested my head onto her shoulder.

"Maybe I just need to learn how to cook again." She said and I looked up at her.

"Mom, we just got this house, we can't afford getting it burned down." I said and she laughed.

"I'm not that bad am I?" She asked, wiping the hairs out of my face.

"The last time you made dinner, I was in the bathroom for an hour." I told her.

"Honey, that's a little too much information." She said, chuckling. I laughed along. We hadn't had moments like these in a while. It was either she was too tired or too caught up in her work or I had gotten mad at her and went to my room to blow off my steam. I missed these mother daughter moments we shared.

"How was your first day?" She asked, brushing another stray hair out of my face.

"It was fine." I replied.

"Did you make any new friends?" She asked curious.

"Uhm, I met this girl Jenn and her brother Joe. They were pretty nice. Jenn took me in pretty quickly." I replied.

"That's great. When do I get to meet her?" She asked.

"Mom, I barely became friends with her. I don't want you to scare her away yet." I said, laughing. My mom gasped.

"Well I never knew you felt that way." She said as she stood up.

"Mom, I was kidding." I said.

"I know, now finish up your chicken." She said and I groaned.

"But mom, the chicken's disgusting." I replied, making a face.

"Well, what are you going to eat then?" She asked, her hand on my doorknob.

"I still can order that pizza." I answered and stood up too.

"I'll be in my room. Just take a twenty out of the jar. No tips." She said firmly and I nodded. She opened the door, walking out as I grabbed my phone. _1 New Message: Oliver._ I opened my phone, eager to hear his reply.

_To: Miley._

_From: Oliver._

_Fine._

That was it? A 'fine' not even a 'how about you?' Something was seriously up and I wanted to figure it out, but I didn't want to call. Maybe he was just getting over the fact that I just moved away. Maybe he was angry, hurt. I shook away the thought, grabbing my phone and walked out and into my mom's room.

"What are you u to?" I asked her.

"Just watching some horror flicks." She told me, I shudder and walk back out into the living room. Forgetting about the pizza, I flopped back onto the couch, turning on the T.V.

--

_BEEP BEEP BEEP._

My alarm went off, my hand coming out of my blanket, searching for the off button. I smack around my desk until I find it and press it, turning the annoying beeping sound off. I snuggle back into my blankets, ready to return to my dream, when my mother walked in and opened up the blinds. Letting the bright sun shine throughout the room.

"Ah." I said, shielding my eyes from the bright sun.

"Rise and shine, darlin' you're gonna be late for school." Her hands resting on her hips as she waited for me to get up.

I kick the covers off of me, feeling a breeze. "What time is it?" I asked groggily as I scratched my head.

"7." She replied and my eyes widened, fully awake now.

"What?!" I said, getting up and ran to my closet, rushing through my drawers, searching for something good to wear. _Nothing. Absolutely nothing._

"What's the matter?" She asked at the doorway.

"Mom, school starts at 7:30!" I exclaimed, throwing shirts onto the floor, searching for the right one to wear.

"You have another half hour, where's the rush? Plus, I'm taking you to school today." She said, confused at how I was reacting.

"Well, I actually want to look nice." I said as I picked up a light blue tank top.

"You always look nice." She told me.

"You have to say that, you're my mother." I said while rummaging through my jeans, finding a pair of light-washed skinnys.

"I don't just say that because it's my job as being your mom, but it's also the truth. I hope you're not doing all of this just to impress someone." She said, her eyebrows arching up a bit.

"No, I'm not that kind of person. I just want to try something different." I lied.

"Well hurry up and get dressed. I made pancakes." She said, causing me to look at her.

"You what?" I asked.

"Okay, fine. I brought pancakes from McDonalds." She replied. "Do you ever cut me some slack?" She said, walking out and I laughed.

Throwing my clothes on, I ran into the bathroom. Taking in how I looked like. My hair was a mess and I just didn't look good in the outfit. I sighed, grabbing my purple brush and ran it through my tangled mess. Yelping every once in a while as I got through the tangles. I looked at the clock. _7:15._ I didn't have any time left to do anything else to my hair. I quickly brushed my teeth and washed my face and walked out to the kitchen.

"Mom, we got to go." I said, stuffing the pancake into my mouth.

"Slow down. We don't want you to choke." She said, still eating her eggs.

"Mom, look at the time." I said, running back into my room and grabbing a clean pair of socks and slipping them on. I heard my mom start the car and I sigh happily. I grabbed my backpack from under my table, hoping that I didn't have any homework yesterday, and if I did. Well, I didn't do it.

I got into the car, looking at the time. _7:22._

"Mom, hurry up." I said, rushing her.

"You're gonna make it." She told me, pulling out of the driveway and towards the school. We pulled into the parking lot. _7:28._

"I told you, you had nothing to worry about." She said and I smile.

"We _barely _made it." I said and got out. I waved bye to my mom and started down the sidewalk. Something about today told me it wasn't going to go as I planned.

**a/n: I don't know when niley's gonna have more confrontations but its coming. I can see it xD review please, they make me smile, especially the long ones. (:**


	5. Ice Skating Disaster

**a/n: ooh another update. (: lol I like this part, you get to see more of Meg in it and she's a good character to write. ;) I've learned from experience that falling on ice hurts like hell. Not from falling on your butt but from the ice burning your hands as you hit the ice. Bring mittens if you ever go! Lol. Enjoy. (:**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Jonas Brothers or Miley Cyrus.**

Shy; Chapter Five

Walking through the school gates, my eyes darted around for a familiar dark-haired girl. _No luck._ I only got back the stares of 20 unfamiliar faces. _Why did I keep forgetting their names?_ The bell rang and I walked quickly towards the Gym, avoiding Nick and his little 'group' of friends as they walked by me. Soon, the tardy bell rang and I barely reach the locker-room, thinking that I'm late. Only to see a group of annoyed girls standing in front of the door. Jenn saw me and waved me over to where she was.

"Excuse me." I said as I made my way through the crowd of girls. Some didn't budge a bit and just gave me a dirty look, making me look down as I reached Jenn.

"Why weren't you on the bus?" Jenn asked me.

"I kind of overslept and my mom wanted to drop me off." I answered.

"Oh, well next time warn someone. Joe was making up stupid stories about how you were abducted. I know it's unlikely those things could happen, but its Joe. He makes things very believable." She replied, rolling her eyes.

"Someone kick the door! I'm fuckin' tired of waiting for them." Someone said from behind us. Jenn kicked the door three times before Miss Saunders walked out, an annoyed expression written on her face.

"Who kicked the door?" She asked as everyone looked around to see who would take the blame. "Don't let it happen again or I'll make you all stay out here for half an hour." The coach said and opened the door wider, letting the girls walk in.

"Are we all late now? I asked Jenn.

"I don't think so. They always open the door late, who knows what they do in here when we're not in here." She answered.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"There's a rumor going around that the 2 lady coaches are dating." Jenn said, opening her locker and taking out her clothes.

"So, we have lesbian coaches?" I asked, making sure I heard correctly.

"Yeah, pretty much." She said, turning towards her locker as I peered at the Coaches' office. Both ladies were laughing and smiling at each other in a loving way. _If they were in love, who cares right?_

"You ready?" Jenn asked, putting lotion on.

"Let me put away my backpack." I said and she nodded as I walked down the rows of lockers looking for mine. I reached it and took out my schedule, trying to memorize the combination before I stuck it back into my backpack. I opened the locker slowly, afraid that something would crawl out. Nothing, but dust. I placed my backpack in, closing the locker, and twirled the lock making sure no one could get into it. I walk back to where Jenn is to see her waiting on the bench.

"Ready." I said and she stood up and we walked back out to the front.

"Now we wait 20 minutes." She said, taking a seat along the tennis court fence.

"Why are we waiting so long?" I asked, sitting down next to her.

"Because P.E. coaches are asses and like to make us wait." She answered, wrapping her arms around her knees and resting her chin on top of them.

"California sure is different than New York." I said.

"You're so lucky. I want to live in New York so bad." She mumbled.

"Why? It's so boring." I said.

"Boring? There's so many things to see, places to shop at." She said.

"If you live near that. I didn't." I replied.

"Oh." She said her gaze in front of her.

"Lively's class role call!" The blonde coached yelled and a couple kids stepped forward. One kid in particular caught my attention, but I pretended I didn't notice.

"My brother has nice legs." Jenn mumbled her chin still on top of her knees.

"What?" I said, looking at her.

"I know it sounds weird, but look at them." She pointed. I slowly looked over at where she was pointing. _He DID have nice legs._ I thought to myself and looked down to hide my smile.

"You do that a lot." Jenn said.

"Do what a lot?" I asked, turning to her confused.

"Smile at Nick even if he isn't looking." She said.

"I don't do that…." I lied.

"You were just doing it a minute ago; do you like my brother or something?" She asked and my eyes widened a little before I answered.

"No, I don't like him. I don't like anyone!" I practically yelled, making the people sitting near us look at me.

"Didn't need to yell." She muttered.

"Sorry, I just don't like him." I mumbled.

"If you say so." She said, getting up.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"Saunders's here early for once." She pointed and I got up and we walked over to where our class was.

"Okay, I'll give you all a choice. Either we stay out here and play soccer or we go inside and play basketball. Which one?" Miss Saunders asked.

"Soccer! Basketball!" all the kids yelled at her at the same time.

Miss Saunders sighed. "Soccer it is!" She said and walked away to get the balls from the equipment closet.

"We'll just walk around the track." Jenn said and I nodded. As we started, there wasn't much said, just a long awkward silence before she spoke up.

So, we're planning to go to my house tomorrow for the project. Will you be able to make it?" She asked.

"Maybe… probably. Yeah sure. Where's your house?" I asked.

"Well it's in this newish neighborhood. We moved into it 2 weeks ago." She replied.

"Wow, that's uhm, really recent." I said.

"Well yeah, my dad decided we needed more room." She shrugged. "I was perfectly fine with the old house."

"I'm guessing two story?" I asked.

"Well duh." She answered, laughing.

"You guys must get whatever you want." I said, looking down at my feet.

"No, not always just 90% of the time." She answered.

"I'm lucky if I even get 25%." I replied.

"Oh." She said, "Its okay." She smiled a little. "So, Meg and I were thinking about going ice skating after school with the others. Do you think you would be able to come along?" Jenn asked me.

"Yeah, I'll make it." I answered even though I didn't ask my mom about it. She wouldn't care; she probably had some extra work to do. "Are we going straight over there?" I asked.

"Pretty much, yeah. Dad's going to come pick us up unless you want your mom to take you…?" She said.

"I'll just go with you guys… you know not to waste gas." I replied lamely.

"Watch out!" Someone yelled from behind and Jenn covered her head. Me being stupid turned around to see who was yelling and made contact with the flying soccer ball. I fell backwards with a loud thud.

"Oh my gosh. Miley, are you okay?!" Jenn exclaimed and I groaned. "Someone call the teacher!" Jenn yelled and I sat up slowly.

"Are you okay honey?" Miss Saunders asked me and I nodded. "Are you sure? Do you need to go to the nurse for ice?" She asked me.

"No, I'm fine. No big deal." I replied, holding my head.

"Alright, everyone back to whatever you were up to." She said, helping me up and walked away.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Jenn asked me.

"It hurts like hell." I replied and held my throbbing head.

--

We all got out of the car and walked into the ice skating complex. There were a lot of couples among the big group that we had came in. _He_ was among one of those couples. I saw their hands latch together, her eyes sparkling as he kissed her on the cheek lightly.

"She seems to tune out a lot, doesn't she?" I heard Meg ask and I turned to face her. Jenn shrugged and went to go pay for her skates.

"So, do you?" Meg asked me.

"Uhm, yeah I guess." I replied. She nodded and looked at me as the conversation turned awkward.

"So. Have you ever been skating before?" I asked.

"Nope." She replied. "How about you?" She asked me.

"No, but it looks pretty easy." I replied.

"Trust me, it's not." She told me.

"That's really great." I said sarcastically.

"Meg! Miley! Hurry up and get your skates." Jenn said and I walked over to the counter.

"Size 6 please." I said to the guy behind the counter.

"Is that your shoe size?" Meg asked me.

"Yes…" I answered.

"She'll get size 5." She told the guy and he handed me my skates.

"I can't fit size 5." I told her.

"Don't worry, you will." She said and sat down on the bench as Meg sat down beside me and started lacing up her skates. I stared at mine and tried to get them onto my feet, nearly falling back and off of the bench.

"Put your foot in slowly." Meg told me. I did as she said and my foot slid in. She smiled and I started to lace the strings lightly.

"Tighter." She said and I pulled them tighter.

"Why do they have to be so tight?" I asked.

"You don't want to fall." She told me.

"You sure know a lot for a person who's never been skating before." I said, struggling to put my other skate on.

"I know my research." She smiled and I got my skate on, lacing them up tightly and I stood up, stumbled into Meg in the process.

"Sorry." I told her and she helped me stand up again.

"We're not even on the ice yet and you're already falling." She said, laughing.

"I'll get the hang of it." I said, walking slowly towards the ice rink. We were the only two left of the group. Meg opened the door; a cold breeze hit my face, causing me to shiver a little. She stepped onto the ice, holding to the side before she slipped. My eyes widened as I saw Jenn skating around in circles. "How does she do that?" I asked Meg, astonished.

"I have no idea." She replied, holding onto the side, terrified that she'd fall. I stepped onto the ice, wobbling a bit and grabbed onto the side of the rink as well.

"Oh my god." I said, holding onto the wall tighter. Jenn skated over and took my hand. "Come on, let's go to the middle." She said.

"What? Are you crazy?!" I said.

"Nope." She said and pulled me towards the middle.

"If I'm coming, so is Meg." I said and grabbed Meg's hand.

"What? No!" She exclaimed and started moving forward. "Ah!" She said and landed on her butt. "Ow..." She groaned.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry." I told her and tried to help her up.

"No, I'm fine being down here." She said as Jenn helped her up.

"You guys aren't going to learn if you latch onto the side the whole day." Jenn said.

"We know, it's just safer." I replied for both me and Meg.

--

After skating around the rink a couple of times and learning a few pointers from Jenn. I was finally getting the hang of skating, even if it was only 2 feet away from the wall. I just needed to work on looking up instead of down at my skates. That was the reason I fell so many times…8 times to be exact. I looked up, keeping my attention on the sign in front of me as moved my skates swiftly, and then I saw _them_, cuddling a couple of feet from where I was. I couldn't go back the other way, I wasn't good going that way. I lost all concentration as I saw him whisper something into her ear, her cheeks turning a light shade of pink as she smiled. _Why was I jealous? _I asked myself as I kept moving forward, I didn't notice I was still moving until I tried to stopped and tried to skate around them, forgetting that I wasn't that good at moving around people. I tripped over my own skate just as I passed them and slipped.

"Ahh!" I screamed as fell onto my back and closed my eyes as my body collided with the hard ice. This was the most painful fall yet. My hands were burning now since I smacked them onto the cold ice. My back was sore and now cold from making contact with the ice again. I opened my eyes slowly to see them staring at me. Embarrassed, I sat up slowly and saw Jenn skating towards me.

"You couldn't help her up?!" She yelled at Nick.

"I'm kind of busy." He replied, still holding onto the girl in his arms.

"Hey Marissa." Jenn said through gritted teeth. "Now, if you can just get away from Nick for a minute so he that he could help Miley up." Jenn said and Marissa moved a bit away. Nick shot her a dirty look and put out his hand. I took it slowly, Marissa watching our every move, jealousy raging in her eyes as Nick pulled me up. His hand was so warm against my stinging cold one. It took us a few seconds before we let go of each other's hand. I grabbed onto the side as Jenn helped me skate away to the closest exit. He looked at us as we reached it and got out.

"How embarrassing was that?" I heard Marissa laugh as I passed them on the outside of the rink. I looked back to see him looking at me. Marissa caught on and turned his face towards hers to kiss him._.._ _I really didn't need or want to see that. _I looked down quickly and walked as fast as I could towards Jenn and Meg.

**a/n: So, who's ready to Dadnapped? Me! Finally a Disney movie with a different plot, idk Disney seems like they've been having a hard time with new ideas for stuff, they should hire me ;D jk. Yay, Niley encounter-ish. Review? They make me happy and want to update sooner. Lol Long ones are really nice ;D hint hint. xp**


	6. Desperate

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything, but the plot. Whoo…-sarcastic-**

**Shy**

Chapter Six

"I think I'm going to go home now." I mumbled as I met Meg and Jenn.

"What? You can't, we just got here…" Jenn frowned.

"I know, I'm just you know… sore from falling." I lied.

"But who's going to help me up when I fall?" Meg asked, frowning now too.

"I had a lot of fun." I fake smiled. "I'll see you guys tomorrow." I said awkwardly.

Jenn walked over and gave me a stiff hug. "I hope you feel better." She told me and I nodded. Meg motioned for me to come over to her; I walked over and gave her a quick one-armed hug. Her scent of raspberry vanilla hitting me.

I sat down and started unlacing my skates. "Uhm, tell Joe I said bye..." I said quietly, not sure if Jenn heard me or not. I looked up to see that they already went back to the ice rink. Looking straight ahead, I could see him holding her, continuing to whisper sweet nothings into her ear, causing giggles to erupt from inside of her. I looked back down at my shoes and slipped my converses onto my wet socks, tying them loosely as I grabbed my backpack out of the little locker. I returned my skates, thanking the guy behind the counter and started walking out of the complex. I didn't know why but I could feel the tears brim the corners of my eyes as I started walking down the sidewalk, the wind blowing lightly. I pulled out my phone and started dialing my mother's number, listening to the rings.

"Sorry I can—" I hung up my phone when I heard her voicemail and took in a deep breath. I should've figured that she wouldn't pick up, she was too busy. I look back at the building and saw some people starting to exit; I turned back around, walking away as quickly as I could. I couldn't believe what was happening, I was _crying?_ I felt so stupid, why the heck was I crying over something like this?

--

15 long and silent minutes later, I started to see my neighborhood as I walked closer. Turning the corner, I finally walked into my neighborhood, passing by unfamiliar houses that looked exactly the same as the one next to it. Walking a few blocks more, I reached my front door, I bent down, picking up a green ceramic cup from the corner by the door and took a silver key out of it. I unlocked the front door and walked in, taking in the smell of _Panda Express?_

"Miley?" My mother's voice called out as I closed the door.

"Yeah, it's me." I answered, slipping off my shoes and kicking them to the corner behind the door.

"Where have you been?" She asked as I walked into the kitchen and took a seat at the table.

"I was at a friend's house working on a project?" I answered, more like a question instead.

"You already have a project to do?" She asked as she took a seat beside me and started scooping some orange chicken onto her paper plate.

"Middle of the school year, remember?" I said as she nodded.

"Right, I forgot." She answered and I stared at her. "Well eat up." She told me, standing up and taking her plate with her into the living room.

I got up slowly from my seat and grabbed a plate out of the dish washer and dried it while I watched my mom switch from channel to channel on the T.V. before settling on Law and Order. We've been going through this same routine for 7 months now. I really started to wonder when some change was going to happen in our lives. I walked back over to the table and scooped 3 forkfuls of noodles onto my plate and grabbed a can of orange soda out of the fridge before I made my way to my room. I closed my door and set the plate onto my desk and sat down, twirling a piece of spaghetti around with my plastic fork.

"I need real food." I muttered quietly before taking a bite of my dinner, it was surprisingly good. I should tell my mom to order Panda Express more often. The room was dead silent except for the occasional sounds of my chewing and sipping of my soda. Finally, I finished and threw my silverware into the trash can before I felt a vibration in my front pocket making me take out my phone.

_Incoming Call: Oliver._

I sighed and opened my phone, pressing it to my ear. "Hello?" I answered.

"Miley." Oliver breathed out.

"Hey." I said quietly, sitting down on the end of my bed.

"I'm so sorry." He replied softly.

"For what?" I asked confused.

"For ignoring you these past 3 weeks." He replied. I shrugged but forgot he couldn't see me.

"It's alright." I mumbled.

"How've you been?" He asked awkwardly and I sighed again.

"Fine." I answered.

"Look, I know you're upset…" He said.

"I'm not upset, I'm just sick." I lied and fake coughed. I never lied to him before; I guess things were really starting to change for the worse now.

"Miles—"

"Uhm, I need to go. Text me?" I asked with hope.

"We can't keep this friendship in touch through text!" He yelled suddenly, which caught me off guard as I gulped back the tears.

"Well, I'm sorry. There isn't anything I can do, you're in New York. I'm in California." I answered quietly.

"No letters?" He asked bitterly. "What happened to Myspace or emails? It's like you want to shut me out!" He growled angrily into the phone.

"What happened to 'we can't keep this friendship in touch through text'? I asked my voice rising, now getting really mad.

_You're reachin' out,  
And no one hears your cry.  
You're freakin' out again  
'Cause all your fears remind you.  
Another dream has come undone.  
You feel so small and lost  
Like you're the only one.  
You wanna scream,  
'Cause you're desperate._

"You know what? Just forget I even called." He replied and before I could give an answer back. All I could hear was the dial tone; he hung up on me. I shut my phone and threw it at the floor angrily. I grabbed the light blue pillow off of my bed and screamed into it as loud as I could, feeling the hot tears seep into it as they ran down my burning cheeks. _I hated him for saying that! How could he even say that?!_ It's like he wants to give up on our friendship, just like that. I expected my mom to walk in to see what was going on. She never did. I shook my head, more tears falling.

_You want somebody, just anybody  
To lay their hands on your soul tonight.  
You want a reason to keep believin'  
That some day you're gonna see the light..._

I wiped the tears away from my eyes, feeling even more stupid for crying for the second time today. "Are you trying to punish me?" I asked out loud, looking up at the ceiling as I felt my face crumble as new tears grew in my eyes. "Did I do something? Is that why dad left us and the reason mom kills herself in work? Was I a mistake?" I whispered the last question as I got up and walked towards my closet and pull out a pair of gray flannel shorts, grabbing my pink towel before dashing towards the bathroom, ready to drown my sorrows down the drain. I closed the door quietly and turned the water on to hot.

_You're in the dark;  
There's no one left to call.  
And sleep's you're only friend,  
But even sleep can't hide you  
From all those tears and all the pain  
And all the days you waste pushin' them away.  
It's your life; it's time you face it._

I stepped out of my clothes and got into the steaming shower, letting the tears fall, not caring anymore. My life wasn't going to get any better so why should I keep up this façade of happiness? I stood there, letting the hot drops beat down onto my body as I cried and thought back to the memories of my dad. The _happy_ ones.

_Flashback_

_8 years ago…_

"_Can we go to the park?" I asked as I reached my father who was sitting at the counter reading the newspaper, he set it down and looked at me._

"_Bud, it's raining outside." He told me and I shrugged my little shoulders._

"_So?" I replied and he chuckled lightly._

"_Come here." He said and I walked over to him as he stood up and took my hand. "How about we go get mommy some flowers?" He asked and my eyes lit up instantly._

"_Okay!" I replied happily. "Let's go." I said and started pulling on his shirt, in attempts to pull him towards the door. He chuckled again and grabbed my coat of the hanger as he reached the coat hanger by the door. He slipped me into it as I started buttoning up the buttons as quickly as I could, missing a few along the way. After putting his own coat on, he took my hand in his and opened the door, letting in the cold and breeze hit my face. I latched onto his hand tighter as we walked through the rain, getting drenched with every step we took. We got into the car and I buckled my seatbelt and waited as my father did his._

"_Daddy, why are you getting mommy flowers?" I asked._

"_Because she deserves them." He answered simply and I smiled brightly as we pulled into the parking lot of the market. I unbuckled my seatbelt and opened the door and slid out. "Whoa there, bud. Take my hand." He said as he stepped out of the car. I pouted, but took his hand obediently. We walked into the store and made our way towards the flowers section. _

"_Which one do you think she'd like?" He asked me as I looked at the many colors in front of me. "That one!" I answered as I pointed to a bright bouquet of purple tulips._

"_Her favorite." He said with a smile as he took them out. We paid for them and walked out, me holding onto the bouquet as I saw the sun coming out from behind the gray rain clouds. We got back home and I got out of the car as soon as it stopped moving and ran inside. "Mommy!" I yelled out, running to the kitchen to see no one in there._

_My dad walked in soon after me. "She's at work, remember." He told me and I ran back out to the living room and sat on the couch and waited patiently for my mom to come home. He shook his head, smiling as he set his keys onto the counter. Soon, I heard a car pull into the garage and I dashed off to see my mom walking in, setting her keys onto the washing machine. "Mommy! Mommy! Daddy and I got you something." I told her anxiously. She laughed and gave me a peck on the forehead as she saw the flowers in my hands. _

"_They're beautiful." She whispered and smiled as my dad appeared behind me. She walked over and gave him a kiss. "Thank you. Both of you." She said as she picked me up and hugged me._

"_You're welcome mommy." I said, holding onto her tighter, seeing my dad smile._

_--_

"_Daddy, why do you love mommy?"__ I asked curiously; we were in the living room watching an old Disney's Princess movie. He laughed and pulled me into his lap as I rested my head onto his chest._

"_There are too many reasons, sweetheart." He replied, stroking my hair softly, making me sleepy._

"_Can I hear some?" I asked, yawning a little._

"_Well she has the smile that I fell in love with. He smiled. "Her eyes sparkle every time she smiles or laugh. She's also the best cook I know. "He chuckled. "And we made this miracle that's lying here in my arms." He whispered, kissing the top of my head as I smiled before drifting off to sleep with a small smile on my face._

_End Flashback._

I felt the water turn cold and I switched the water off and grabbed my towel, wrapping it around my body before walking out of the shower. I dried myself off and slipped on my shorts and tank top. I wrapped my hair in the towel and walked out of the bathroom and went straight to my room. Maybe this was just some nightmare and I'd wake up any minute now. The reality part is that it wasn't a nightmare; this was really my life and I really hated it.

_You want somebody, just anybody  
To lay their hands on your soul tonight.  
You want a reason to keep believin'  
That some day you're gonna see the light...  
'Cause you're desperate, desperate.  
'Cause you're desperate now..._

**a/n:**** I'm sad so I wrote this sad part lol. Review? Maybe I'll get happier and write a happy part where Miley talks to Nick :D lmao.**


	7. Clumsy

**a/n: New chappie, yay! :D**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. Just the plot.**

**Shy**

Chapter Seven; Clumsy

_Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock._

I listened to the clock tick on slowly before I got up from where I was on my bed and unwrapped the towel from my hair, setting it on the back of my chair. I paced back and forth for a few minutes before I heard a knock on my door.

"Come in." I said and my mom walked in, a tired expression on her face.

"You okay honey?" She asked and I nodded. "Are you sure? You haven't left your room since you came home." She said quietly.

"I've just been thinking a lot, that's all." I told her. _It was the truth._

"You want to talk about it?" She asked as she sat down on my bed and I shook my head.

"Uhm, no it's nothing." I answered.

"You know you can always tell me anything." She tried again.

"It's nothing mom, really. I'm uhm, tired." I lied. She got up slowly and walked over to me, kissing me on the forehead.

"Sleep tight, okay." She told me and I nodded as she left my room.

I walked over to the corner of my room and picked up my phone from where I threw it earlier. I went through the main menu and set an alarm for 6:30 a.m., making sure that the volume was up before setting my phone on my side table and slipping into my covers. It was cold; I shivered until the warmness surrounded me. Thoughts ran rapidly through my head. I squeezed my eyes shut tightly, trying to make all of the thoughts go away. I opened my eyes and turned over onto my side and stared at the bare, white wall in front of me. I heard my mom's soft footsteps in the hallway, the flickering of the hallway light turning off, and the click from her door when it closed shut. I turned back over and stared at my Pooh Bear clock hanging on the wall. _11:53_ it ticked on… there was only six and a half more hours until I had to wake up for school. Tonight was going to be another sleepless night.

--

_Tick. Tock._

Time seem to be passing on more slowly as the minutes went by. I glanced at the clock again. _3:33._ I was now sitting up, my back against the headboard, staring at the clock. I really needed to go to sleep. I pulled the blankets off of my bare legs and swung them over the side of my bed, my feet meeting the cold carpet surface. I looked around for a pair of slippers, but gave up after looking around for a few minutes. I quickly walked over to my closet, turning the light on and sliding the closet door open as quietly as I could. I pulled a dark purple sweater out from a stack and put it over my body, the cold fabric making contact with my bare arms. I looked around and saw a box labeled _shoes._ I walked over to it, grabbing it before taking a seat on the floor. I opened the box and started rummaging through it. Pairs of converses of assorted colors were all I saw.

"_There had to be a pair of flats somewhere in here." _I thought as I continued going through the pile. Then, I reached the bottom of the box and there was nothing. I sighed and got back onto my feet. I looked at the clock again and yawned. _3:45_ I walked back over to my bed and sat down. The next thing I knew I was listening to my phone alarm ringing. I rubbed my eyes tiredly and sat up, my back was aching and I slumped over a little. I grabbed my phone and turned the alarm off and got up from where I was sitting, nearly stumbling into the side table. I walked back over to my closet and grabbed a teal colored T and a pair of light washed jeans. I slipped them on quickly and opened my bedroom door. My mom was at the counter, looking at a box of frozen sausages.

"You're up already?" She asked, looking up from the box when she heard my door creak open.

"Yeah." I croaked loudly before walking into the bathroom. I stared at my reflection; my hair was a frizzy mess and my eyes were still swollen from crying and now had dark bags under them from the lack of sleep I had last night. I washed my face and brushed my teeth before grabbing my mom's foundation from the drawer. I applied some onto my face, crinkling my nose at the smell. _I never liked the smell of make up._ Now that the dark circles under my eyes were covered, I grabbed blush brush, applying some pink blush onto my cheekbones. I looked at what I did and smiled a little. _I didn't look that bad, now for my hair. The hard part._ After thinking about what to do with it, a few minutes later I grabbed a rubber band from the counter and tied my hair back into a messy pony tail; I didn't feel like trying anything new with it yet. I walked out and glanced at the blinking numbers on my mom's desk. _7:00. _I walked into the kitchen and saw my mom frying up a pan of the frozen sausages.

"Smells good." I smiled as I walked into the kitchen.

"Looks like someone's having a good morning." She smiled back and I grabbed a glass from the cabinet, filling it up with iced water.

"Yeah." I replied and took a seat at the table, taking a few sips from my drink. "So, today I'm going over to Jenn's house." I said casually.

"Who's Jenn?" My mom asked, her attention still on the sizzling meat.

"My friend." I replied and she looked at me.

"Why are you going to her house?" She asked.

"Project." I said and took another sip of my water. She gave me a suspicious look and I didn't know why.

"Are you lying to me?" She asked a minute later and I gave her a confused expression.

"Why would I be lying?" I asked and she turned the stove off.

"Well, you have your make up done and you're happy. Is there a boy?" She asked curiously and I rolled my eyes.

"I can't be happy without it involving a boy?" I asked.

"I'm just being curious, no need for your undies to be in a knot." She replied while grabbing a plate out of the dishwasher.

"Whatever." I muttered and looked out the open window. I saw the bus pulled up on the curb and I jumped out of my seat and ran back towards my room, grabbing my backpack off the chair, throwing my keys and phone inside it before grabbing a pair of socks from my drawer. Half running, half putting my socks on, I grabbed my converses from behind the door and slipped them on.

"I'm riding the bus mom!" I yelled from where I was and opened the door; a fresh breeze greeted my face. I took in a deep breath and started walking down the driveway and toward the bus. The bus door opened and I was met by the smiling driver.

"Morning." She greeted me in her Southern accent.

"Morning." I greeted back and started walking down the aisle of the bus, my smile fading as the unfamiliar faces stared back at me, whispers surrounding me instantly. I reached the back of the bus and got ready to sit down, but saw that the seats were already taken by Marissa and Nick. I looked at them for a few moments before turning back around; I could feel the heat rising to my cheeks as I heard someone hollered for me to sit down. The bus started moving and I slumped a little and turned back towards Nick and Marissa.

"Could you scoot over?" I asked quietly to Nick, who continued to just stare at me. I turned to the other side and the two girls stared me up and down, causing me to look back at Nick. I knew my cheeks were rising in color as the seconds rolled by. Marissa rolled her eyes and turned towards the windows. I continued looking at Nick before he moved over a little bit, causing Marissa to sigh loudly and move over a little. I sat down in the little space that I was given. I sighed in relief quietly and looked down at my hands.

"She had to sit here." I heard Marissa mutter to Nick. I tried my best not to squirm, but the bus hit a speed bump causing me to move up and land into Nick's lap. I sat there frozen by what just happened.

"Move." Marissa told me firmly and I started to get up.

"Where is she even going to go?" Nick hissed at her and my heart started racing at top speed. It was beating so fast, I was afraid that it was going to burst out of my shirt. I started to get up again, catching Marissa's glare at me. The bus stopped and I stood up quickly, I fanned my face, trying to make the heat leave my pink face. Someone nudged me and I turned to see Joe staring at me.

"Why are so pink?" He asked me, making me turn a darker shade of pink.

"It's just hot in here." I murmured and I could feel Nick's stare on the back of my head. Joe put his hand to my face and smiled. His hand was freezing.

"Better?" He chuckled and I nodded shyly.

"Thanks." I said softly and caught sight of Nick watching the two of us. We finally got off the bus and I started walking towards the Gym.

"Where are you going?" Joe called out, making me turn around.

"Class…" I said slowly.

"We have another 10 minutes." He told me and I started walking back towards him.

"I knew that." I said casually and he laughed.

"Right…" He said.

"Where's Jenn?" I asked and watched as Nick walked by, Marissa's hand intertwined with his. They met up with a crowd of other people and I looked back at Joe, who was looking at me. "What?" I asked.

"Uhm Jenn's running late… why were you staring at Nick?" He asked and I started to stammer.

"I—he—nothing." I said quietly.

"You like him?" He asked and I shook my head quickly. "Well don't" He told me and I looked up.

"Why not?" I asked curiously.

"He's taken as you can see, and he wouldn't like someone like you." He replied and I looked back down at my shoes. _I need new shoes. _I thought to myself.

"Nice to know." I replied and started walking away, but got stopped when Joe grabbed my wrist.

"I didn't mean it in that way. I mean like they've been together for a few months now, I think they're starting to get serious-- I don't think he would just break up with her—"

"I get it." I cut him off and grabbed my wrist back and started walking away again. He caught up with me again and I kept my gaze forward.

"Look, I didn't mean to sound mean." Joe told me and I looked at him.

"It's okay, really." I lied. "No one should like me anyways." I told him.

"Why not?" He asked me and I shrugged.

"There's nothing to like." I replied simply and he shook his head.

"That's a lie." He replied and I shook my head.

"Now that's a lie. I know I'm plain, there's nothing to like about me." I answered and he looked at me, his gaze making me uncomfortable. The bell rang and I turned and starting towards the locker-rooms, leaving Joe. _Saved by the bell._

"Miley!" Someone called from behind and I turned around seeing Jenn walk towards me with a huge grin plastered on her face. She reached me and latched onto my arm.

"Why are you so happy?" I grinned and she looked down. "What?" I asked, curious now.

"I have great news." She told me and I stared at her, waiting for her to continue.

"Well..?" I asked, still waiting as she paused. "Are you pausing for dramatic effect?" I asked and she laughed.

"No. I'm just trying to think of how I should word what I'm going to say." She told me.

"Just tell me." I laughed.

I'm moving to Norberry Street." She squealed and I stared back at her.

"What?" I asked and she frowned.

"What's wrong?" She asked when she saw my expression.

"That's my street." I managed to sputter out.

"Exactly!" She smiled huge again.

**a/n: Didn't you guys just love this chapter? Aha... yeah, I'm trying to get these out faster... I lost the paper where I started this part and totally spazzed on my brother xD Oh well... REVIEW PLEASE (:**


	8. Touch My Hand

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

**a/n: I'm not liking where the plot's going again... why does this always happen?! Lol.**

Shy

**Chapter Eight**

_Touch My Hand_

"That's my street." I repeated again. _That means Nick's going to be living on my street. _I told myself. "You' said that already… are you unhappy that I'm moving onto your street?" Jenn asked, staring at me for an answer."No, I'm happy… it's just hit me all at once." I answered. "We're moving into 2034." She told me and we started walking into the locker-rooms.

"You're what?!" I choked out loudly. "You know, you're acting really weird right now." She said. "Still in shock, that's all." I replied quietly. "Does that mean working on the skit is getting pushed back to whenever you move?" I asked and she shook her head and stopped walking, causing me to almost walk into her. "We're still rehearsing. We can go to Meg's house." She replied smiling. "That's so great." I mumbled sarcastically.

"Are you dressing out today?" Jenn asked, trying to move the conversation out of its' awkward state. "Shit." I muttered. "I forgot my money." I told her and she took out her wallet, handing me a 50 dollar bill. "I can't take this." I handed her back the money. "It's nothing, really." She said and put the bill back into my hand. I was about to protest but she already started pushing me into the coaches' office. "How can I help you girls?" The blonde coach asked. "P.E. clothes." I said, holding up the money.

--

We walked out the side door of the locker-rooms and started making our way towards the tennis courts. "Is this going to be the only time I see you in shorts?" Jenn asked and I nodded slowly. "Why?" She sighed. "I'm just more of a long pants kind of girl." I answered. "But you have nice legs!" She blurted out and I laughed, "Okay, that sounded weird, but I mean, you should show your legs off." I looked down at my scrawny legs. "Why?" I asked absentmindedly.

"Because, you have a great figure, I don't get why you hide it under those baggy clothes." She told me and I looked down at my stomach. "A great figure? All I eat is junk." I told her truthfully. "Well, for someone who's always eating junk, you have one hell of a body." She laughed and I smiled, looking down. "Thanks." I said. "Open up, Miley. What are you hiding up there?" She softly knocked the side of my head and I kept the fake smile plastered on my face. "Hey, I have a good idea. Why don't you tag along with me and the others when we go to the mall on Friday?"

"I don't know if that's a good idea. I have plans." I lied. "Come on, please." She cooed and I sighed.

"I'll ask my mom." I told her. "Yay!" She replied happily. "I said I'll ask, that's not a yes yet." I told her. "Wow, way to burst someone's happy bubble." She laughed. I laughed, "Sorry." The coaches blew their whistles, making Jenn and I groan at the same time, causing us to laugh as we got up.

"What do you think we're going to do today?" I asked her as we reached the mass of students surrounding to two lady coaches. Jenn shrugged and I looked around, spotting familiar faces here and there and looking away as soon as my gaze met _his._ "Alright, today my class and coach Lively's class are going to come together…" Everyone groaned, but Miss Saunders continued. "Make teams of 4 or 5 people, no teams of all girls or boys." She looked around, counting as she passed each face. "Each team must have at least two girls, no exceptions." All of the boys groaned and she rolled her eyes. "5 minutes or I pick your teams for you." She warned us and walked off.

Jenn looked at me and my eyes started wandering around; everyone was already in their teams. "Come on." She grabbed my arm and I closed my eyes, praying she wasn't going to where I thought she was going. "Hey Nick." She said cheerily and I opened my eyes. _No one ever answers my prayers._ "Miley and I are going to be on your team, okay?" Jenn told him and I looked at him and his friend. His friend smiled ay me and I returned a small one.

"Whatever." Nick grumbled and my smile faded. His gaze flickered from Jenn to me; his gaze lasted longer than I thought it would. His eyes were so mesmerizing, my eyes stayed locked on his for a few moments before his friend cleared his throat, making me break the eye contact. "Well that was very…awkward." His friend said. "Couldn't agree with you more, Paul." Jenn said, giving me a questioning look.

"Everyone grab a ball!" Coach Lively screeched at us. _Someone was very moody today._ "I'll get it." Jenn replied quickly and walked away. Paul stood there, staring at me, then flickering his eyes towards Nick. "So, what was your name again?" Paul asked, turning his attention back towards to me. "Miley." I told him shyly and Nick looked at me when I heard Jenn yell a _watch out! _from behind us. The basketball hit Nick in the back, causing him to jolt forward. I tried to move, but my feet tangled together, making me to jerk forward as well and collide into Nick. The collision caused him to stumble onto his back, I tripped over my feet and landed on top of him.

"Ow…" He groaned. "Sorry." I said quickly and tried to get up, accidentally hitting him in the stomach. "Sorry." I said again and Jenn helped me up. Paul helped Nick up and I could feel my cheeks burning. "How about we just practice shooting, that's safe right?" Paul suggested and I nodded. He threw the ball at me and I covered my face and saw it slowly roll past me. "You're supposed to catch it." Paul chuckled and I went to get the ball. After getting it back, I passed the ball to Jenn who passed it back to me. "I don't want it." I told her and threw it back to her. "Well, I don't want it either." She said and threw it back.

_BAM!_

--

I was holding an ice pack to my left hand; Jenn and I were just about to walk out of the locker-rooms when she asked, "How's your hand?" We walked out and I moved the ice pack and flinched as a sting ran through my hand. "It's okay." I lied and put the ice pack back onto my hand, wincing at the burning feeling. "At least everyone knows that basketball isn't my thing." I said and smiled, trying to lighten the mood.

"I guess." She answered and started pressing buttons on her cell phone, sending a message. I winced again when I got this strange feeling in my hand, I took the ice pack off and observed my pink hand. It looked swollen. Laughing came from behind; I whipped my head around to see who it was out of curiosity. Paul said something and Nick chuckled, "Man, that's just stupid." He said, his arm brushing against mine as he passed by, causing goose bumps to rise on my arm. He looked back at me and I rubbed my arm, trying to get my heart rate back down to normal.

"You cold?" Jenn asked, oblivious to what had just happened. "A breeze just passed." I lied. "Really? I didn't feel it." She said, looking up from the device in her hand. "Oh, it was just a really quick one. It just went whose." I said, moving my hand with the lame sound effect. She shrugged, "So, today when we go to Meg's house. You should catch a ride with us."

"Okay…" I answered. "What's your last class?" The bell rang and we started walking towards the snack bar. "Spanish in room…" I took my schedule out of my back pocket. "..605." I told her and put the piece of paper back to where I had taken it out. "Oh, you can walk with Nick then." She told me and I could feel my stomach doing cartwheels. _Please don't throw up._ I told myself. "He rides the bus with us and he's going to Paul's house which is right across the street from Meg's so I don't think it would bother him that much." She shrugged.

Someone tapped my shoulder and I turned to my right. "You were supposed to turn the other way," Joe told me. "I know that shoulder tap thing way too well." I told him with a smile. "Why aren't you with your friends?" Jenn asked him. "But, I am." He replied, putting his arm around my shoulder. "Your senior friends." Jenn told him. "I don't have old people as friends." Joe answered, making Jenn roll her eyes. "I'll just let you two talk then." Jenn told us in an annoyed voice and walked away to the rest of the girls.

"So, what do you think of school so far?" Joe asked. "It's school." I shrugged. "It's boring and it's wasting my exciting life." I joked, sarcasm dripping in my voice. "That sounds awesome!" He said sarcastically and we laughed. "You have a cute laugh." He said and I blushed and mumbled a thanks. We started walking to the others. "Shouldn't you be eating right now?" I asked him. "Oh!" He stopped walking and took off his backpack, pulling out a bag of chocolate chip cookies from the small front pocket. "Don't tell Jenn." He said and opened the bag, handing me a cookie. "Wow…" I said and took a small bite. "Hey, it's her fault she just leaves them laying there on the counter." He replied, stuffing a big chunk of cookie into his mouth. "There was probably a sticky note on it, telling everyone not to touch it." I replied.

"Shh." He said again and I chuckled. "Want another one?" He offered when I finished my cookie. I shook my head, "No thanks." It was really sweet." I said and he stuffed another cookie into his mouth. "That's why they're the best." He said with his mouth full. "You have a little chocolate right there." I said, pointing to the corner of his lips. "Take it off." He told me and I wiped it off. "Your fingers are soft." He told me and I laughed. "Thanks?" Jenn walked over and stopped, "Was I interrupting something?" She asked. "No…." Joe said slowly. "Then what are you guys doing?" She asked. "Nothing!" I replied a little too quickly. The bell rang and I said a quick goodbye to Joe before walking with Jenn to class, not saying a word to each other along the way.

I took my seat and took out my notebook and started jotting down the notes that Mr. Arnold had up on the board. The chair next to me suddenly slid and Nick sat down. "Do we copy the board?" He asked me and I nodded, looking up and jotting down more notes. "Can I borrow a piece of paper?" He asked and I stopped writing, taking a piece of paper out of my binder and handing it to him. "Thanks." He said and I nodded and was about to go back to writing. "Do you have a pencil I can borrow?" He asked and I looked at him. "Yeah…" I said quietly and handed him my pencil and grabbed my backpack off the floor. I took out another pencil and started writing again.

I could feel Nick watching me and I didn't dare look up at him. _Was he just finding a way to talk to me or did he really just come to school unprepared?_ I asked myself when Mr. Arnold stood up from his seat, his chair screeching across the wooden floor. He cleared his throat, ready to begin a lecture. "World War II…" He started.

--

Mr. Arnold was still midway through his lecture on how Hitler invaded Poland when Nick nudged me and I turned to him. "Can I see your notes?" _Why would he need my notes? They were RIGHT there on the board._ I handed him my notebook without a word and turned my attention back to Mr. Arnold, who had just finished talking and walked over to the white board, writing: _SKITS, presentations next Tuesday._ My eyes widened and I counted the days in my head. That was only That was 5 days away, counting the weekend and me, Meg, and Jenn hadn't even started on ours yet. "Hopefully, everyone's almost finished with theirs." Mr. Arnold said to the class, his eyes landing on me as if to taunt me or something. He looked away and continued talking, "With your partner…" I closed my eyes, "You two will be coming up with 20 questions after you read from pages 303-317. You have 45 minutes starting now." He told us.

We both reached for the book at the same time, my fingers brushed against his for a second before I withdrew my hand quickly. I waited for him to take the book, but he just sat there waiting for me to take the book. I was about to reach out, but he was about to at the same time as well. _What was he doing?_

_Trying to reach out to you, _

_touch my hand  
Reach out as far as you can  
Only me, only you, and the band  
Trying to reach out to you, _

_touch my hand_

**a/n: Ah, the chapter is finished (: I have some surprises up my sleeve for this chapter. What do you guys think Nick's up to? REVIEW. I probably won't be able to update until Spring Break starts for me, which is April 3****rd****. Just 15 days, you guys can make it.. aha. I have like 3 projects right now, ugh. ;[**


	9. Secret Valentine

**a/n: Guys, I lost my inspiration for this story ;/ I need it back! X[**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything, but the plot.**

Shy

**Chapter 9**

_Secret Valentine_

I stared at Nick for a few moments, wondering what he was going to do next. Mr. Arnold walked by our desks and looked at us with a confused expression. "Is there something wrong?" He asked. "Nope." Nick answered for the both of us. "I suggest you two start then, time is ticking on." Mr. Arnold said and continued walking down the row of desks. I grabbed the book quickly and I was positive I saw a smirk flicker across Nick's face, but I shook that out of my mind. I opened the book to the desired page and began to read. Nick tapped my shoulder and I looked at him. "Are you going to be the only doing the work, or am I helping?" He asked. "Grab a book then." I said.

I looked around. I found it weird that we were the only partners with _one_ book. I sighed and scooted the book over onto his desk. "I'll write the notes down." I said quietly and he looked over at me. He started reading aloud and I quickly got mesmerized by his voice. _Was that supposed to happen? _A few minutes later, he looked up at me. "Are you writing any of this down?" He asked and I looked down at the blank piece of paper on my desk.

"Uhm, could you repeat what you just read?" I asked, feeling stupid for not paying attention. "Yeah." He replied, rereading the last paragraph. I jotted down as many notes that I could from that paragraph alone. I looked up at the clock and then back at Nick. "How many pages do you have left to read?" I asked and he flipped through a few pages. "Like two." He told me. "Oh, okay." I said and he looked at me. "Do you want to read?" He asked me and I shook my head. "Come on, my throat's getting dry." He told me and handed me the book.

I took it and handed him the piece of paper with the three sentences I wrote down. "Where did you leave off?" I asked and he pointed to the bottom of the page. I mumbled a thanks to him and began reading. "What was the last thing?" He asked. "Pearl Harbor was attacked on December 7th, 1941." I said and he wrote it down. I was about to continue reading when a loud siren sound filled the room. I quickly covered my ears from the loud noise and nearly dropped the book. "Everyone out of the room!" Mr. Arnold yelled and we quickly shuffled out of the room.

"What's going on?" I asked Jenn as I approached her and Meg. "What?" She yelled over the loud alarm. "I said, what's happening?!" I asked again, yelling this time. "I can't hear you!" Jenn yelled back at me. "Oh my god! We're having a fire alarm. God, just stop with the yelling!" Meg yelled at both me and Jenn. "You don't need to yell." Jenn muttered and I laughed a little. Meg glared at us and I quickly looked away. "I hate how they always have to have these things at the wrong time." Jenn said. "I'm kind of glad they had it now, I don't really like Mr. Arnold's class." Meg whispered quietly. I shrugged, "I don't really care since this is like my third day here." I said.

"What was up with you and Nick?" Meg asked a few moments later and I looked at her confused. "What are you talking about?" I asked. "Your guy's eyes were practically glued to each other's." Meg said and Jenn gave me a confused expression. "We were just doing our work." I tried to defend myself, but failed miserably. "Right, staring at each other for a long period of time is 'working.' Whatever you say." Meg said. "We seriously weren't doing anything." I said.

"We believe you." Jenn said before Meg could say something else to protest. "Yeah." Meg mumbled. The alarms stopped and the principal came onto the intercom, telling us that it was all clear. "Finally." Jenn said and started walking back into the classroom. "I don't get why she's so anxious to go back in." Meg said and started walking back in too. I laughed a little and walked into the room, running into someone's back. I stumbled back and the person turned around. "Are you in love with my back or something?" Nick asked and chuckled, soon the rest of the class joined in with him. I could feel my cheeks burning and I stood there embarrassed. Nick quickly stopped laughing and I walked back to my seat and sat down. Nick soon sat down beside me. "Sorry, I didn't mean to make you feel bad I—"

I cut him off, "It's alright. No worries." I said in a quiet tone. "Alright, pass up your papers." Mr. Arnold said to the class. "Stewart right?" Nick asked and I nodded, watching him write my name down on the paper. He passed the paper up and I played with my pencil, accidentally flipping it in the air. "Oh my gosh." I said when I heard someone say ow. "Wow, you're something." Nick said, handing me back my pencil. "I'm SO sorry." I said, my cheeks rising with heat again. The bell rang and I quickly got out of my seat, meeting up with Jenn at the door. "Let's go." I said, rushing her.

"Why are you so red?" She asked me as we started down the hall towards math. "It's just hot." I said, fanning myself. "Are you all of a sudden having hot flashes?" She asked giggling. "No." I said and laughed. "Only old women get that." I told her and we walked into the classroom. "Morning girls." Miss Lopez greeted us with a wide grin. "Morning." We said back quietly, taking our usual spots in the back of the class. Miss Lopez stood up and started writing on the white board. _TEST TOMORROW._ "Test?!" Jenn asked me in a panicked voice. "She never said anything about a test!"

"Okay, before everyone goes 'Miss Lopez, you never said anything about a test.' This test will be a piece of cake. I promise." Miss Lopez said. I looked over at Jenn who relaxed a little. "Tests get to you I'm guessing?" I asked her and she nodded. "They're always the thing that kills my grade." She sighed and I got out my binder. "Hey' who's that?" She asked, pointing to a picture. "Oh, that's my mom." I said. "Whoa, your mom's gorgeous." She said. "Thanks." I replied and was about to open my binder when she stopped me. "Can I see it?" She asked. "My binder?" I asked and she nodded. I handed it to her and watched her face as she looked at the different pictures.

"Who's this?" She asked, her manicured nail pointing to an old faded picture of my dad. "Oh, that's just my dad." I told her and she looked up from the binder to me. "Your dad?" she asked me and I nodded. "I know, I look nothing like him." I said and she shook her head. "Are you crazy? You resemble him so much." She said and I took the binder out of her hands and stared at the picture. "I do?" I asked and she nodded. "I find that cute." She smiled and I continued looking down at the faded picture. This was the only picture I had left of my dad besides the one from when I was a baby, but this was the most recent one. It was from 3 years ago, a year and a half before things started to change in my life.

--

"Finally, lunchtime." I said as Jenn and I exited English. "Are we eating cafeteria food again?" She asked me and I nodded. "Oh, fine." She sighed and we started walking down the hall, Nick walked out of his classroom and shot me a smile. "Smile back." Jenn whispered to me and I gave an awkward smile. "Okay, that was embarrassing." I said as soon as Nick and his friends couldn't hear us anymore. "You need to work on that." Jenn said. "Work on that?" I asked. "Flirting." She replied. "Flirting?" I questioned. "Do you need to question everything I say?" She asked. "Sorry." I said. "And yes flirting, can't you tell Nick's flirting with you?" She asked. "Nick's flirting with—" I stopped talking when Jenn shot me a look. "Sorry. I'm just very clueless." I told her and she laughed.

Joe popped out of nowhere and the both of us jumped back. "Joe! What did I say about that?!" Jenn growled and whacked him with her book bag. "Sorry, sorry. No need to get violent." He said, backing away from her. "You're so freaking annoying." She muttered to him. "I love you too sis." He said and went onto my left, so that he was away from Jenn. "What's up best friend?" He asked me and I turned to him. "Best friend?" I asked and Jenn sighed. I turned back to her, "Hey you said not to question you, I'm questioning Joe." I said, making my point. I turned back towards Joe, "Yeah, you're my best friend." Joe said, putting his arm around my shoulder. I laughed, "Okay, you can move your arm, 'best friend.'" I said, taking his arm off of my shoulder. "We'll see you later Joe." Jenn said. "Miley and I are getting lunch." She told him and he nodded. He looked like he wanted to give me a hug, but then didn't and walked off.

"I can't believe this." Jenn mumbled under her breath. "What?" I asked her. "Nothing, never mind." She shook her head. "Let's just meet up with Meg so we can figure out what's going on after school." I nodded and we started walking again. "I don't get why we have lockers." I said and Jenn turned to me. "What do you mean?" She asked. "Well, I mean I've barely use mine, even if it is my third day here, do you use yours?" I asked her. "No, not really." She answered. "Yeah, so lockers are kind of useless in this school." I said. "Well, this school is mentally retarded." She said and we both laughed, even though I didn't think that. I actually kind of liked this school. We reached the other girls and I saw that Angie wasn't with us. "Where's Angie?" I asked and Meg rolled her eyes. "She's not with us right now." She said in a cold tone. I quickly dropped the subject as Jenn shot Meg a look.

"Look, I don't think meeting up at my house is a good idea. Things are a little rough at home right now and I don't want you guys to get in the middle of it." Meg said and walked off. "Looks like someone's PMSing right now." Jenn said and I looked at where Meg went. "She looks kind of sad, should we ask her what's wrong?" I asked. "Do you want to get yelled at?" Yanny asked me and I shook my head. "Forget I suggested anything." I said. "How about we go to your house?" Jenn suggested and I shook my head quickly. "Uhm, the house's a mess. Boxes everywhere. We're not all moved in yet." I said. "We don't have to go in, we could just rehearse outside in the yard." Jenn suggested and I nodded, defeated. "Alright, you can come over."

"Let me just go tell Nick about the change of plans." Jenn said. "Should I tell Meg?" I asked and she shook her head. "I'll tell her later." She said and I nodded. "Okay." Jenn walked off towards the boys, "Why are you letting her do that?" Yanny asked and I turned towards her. "Let who do what?" I asked. "You're letting Jenn walk all over you. I mean, I know she's my sister and all, but you shouldn't let her do that." I stared at her. _I'm letting Jenn walk all over me?_ I asked myself. Yanny walked away and I was standing there awkwardly with my thoughts.

Someone came from behind me and touched my shoulder; I jumped a little and turned around. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." Nick said and I tried to shrug it off. "I-its o-okay." I stuttered. _God, I feel so stupid. _"Do... you uhm, wanna take a walk or something? You know around the school?" He asked and I nodded my head, shocked that _he_ was nervous one right now. "Let's go this way." He said and we started walking back the way where Jenn and I came from.

We walked down the hall in silence before he spoke up. "So, why did you guys cancel the plans?" He asked and I shrugged. "Meg didn't want to have it at her house. So we're having rehearsals at my house." I said, surprised I actually got an actual sentence without messing up a single word. "Let me guess Jenn suggested that?" He asked and I nodded. "I don't get why people can't come to our house." He said and I looked at him. "What do you mean?" I asked. "We never have company over and when people are over, it's awkward because they never came over before. She always says that, but it's her fault. She won't let anyone come over!" _I never heard anyone talk about Jenn like that_. I didn't say anything and waited for him to say more, but he didn't so we continued walking down the noisy hall in silence.

We stopped in front of the office, "Sorry. I didn't mean to go off like that. I—" We started walking again towards the back of the school, "It's alright. I'm a good listener." I said and gave him a small smile. "What about you? Do you have any siblings?" He asked and I shook my head. "I wish. I'm an only child. I guess my parents thought that one of me was enough." I said. "I get lonely sometimes, but I guess I'm lucky because I don't have to share." I joked and he smiled. "You're funny." He said. "Sarcastic." I corrected him. "People take what I say as jokes though, I just don't get why." I said. He suddenly pulled me towards him and I ran into his chest. "Ow." I said into his shirt. "Sorry, you were going to run into a pole." He said, pointing and I turned. "I can't believe I didn't see that, I must be blind." I said, closing and opening my eyes my few times. "I guess you're lucky. I'm here right now." He replied and I blushed a little. "Yeah." I said and we continued walking.

--

Something started buzzing, "Is that your phone or something?" I asked. He took out his phone, looking at the caller id. "Excuse me." He said and I nodded. "What do you want, Jenn?" He asked into the phone and I turned away, giving him some privacy. I started walking around a little before my eyes quickly locked one to a pair of hazel eyes glaring back at me. _Marissa's._ She must hate me now because of the bus incident this morning. I looked down and tried walked past her, but she quickly grabbed my arm, pulling me back. I stumbled back and she crossed her arms over her chest, staring me up and down. "What do you want?" I asked her, my voice sounded so small, so powerless.

"I don't know who the hell you think you are, but you shouldn't be talking to _my_ boyfriend." She said in a mean tone. "Is he not allowed to have friends or something?" I asked my voice still in a low tone. "The only friends he needs are his guy friends and me. You really need to back the hell off." She told me and walked off, bumping into my shoulder as she walked by. I found myself feeling kind of wimpy at that moment. _I was afraid of her._ I looked back to see her walking towards Nick. I looked away and started walking back to where Jenn was as quickly as I could. "Miley!" I heard someone call from behind me, but I didn't turn around. I didn't need or want to turn around at the moment. I continued walking, quickening up my pace until I reached Jenn and Yanny. "Where the heck did you disappear to?" Jenn asked me.

"I just went for a walk. You know get used to the campus more." I lied and Yanny walked away, a confused expression came to face as I watched her walk towards Meg. "I thought you were with Nick?" Jenn asked. "Oh, yeah. He showed me around for a little while then he went with Marissa. I didn't want to bother them so I came back here." I lied again. "Okay. Well, I told Meg about our plans and she bailed out." Jenn told me. "What? Why?" I asked, glancing back towards Meg. "She just said she didn't want to be in our group anymore, so I said she wasn't apart of it anymore." Jenn shrugged. "I'll be right back." I said and started walking towards Meg. "Hey Meg—" She looked up and then I heard someone call my name again. "Excuse me really quick." I told her and walked away again.

"Hey, where'd you go?" Nick asked as I approached him. I looked around, making sure Marissa wasn't anywhere by us. "Should you even be talking to me right now?" I asked him quietly and he stared at me confused. "What are you talking about?" He asked in a serious tone. "I'm talking about your girlfriend."

**a/n: Blahhh… this chapter is like crap even if Nick and Miley did have a conversation or two... I just lost my inspiration for this story. Stupid guy.. x[ Stupid other stuff lmao. REVIEW and hopefully my inspiration comes back to me ;D BTW, Jenn if you're reading this. I'm not trying to make you sound mean! You're really awesome!**


	10. Jealousy

**a/n: Read author note at the bottom.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything, but the plot.**

Shy

**Chapter 10**

_Jealousy_

"My girlfriend?" Nick asked and I nodded. "What about her?" I looked past Nick and saw Marissa approaching us, a furious expression playing on her flawless face. Nick turned to where I was looking and saw Marissa standing there.

"I should go." I mumbled quietly and turned to walk away. Nick grabbed my arm and I turned back to him. "What are you doing?" I asked.

"You don't have anything to worry about anymore." He told me.

"What do you mean?" I asked quietly.

"She isn't my girlfriend anymore." He said and my eyes flickered back to Marissa. She was glaring at us, glaring at _me._

"She looks like she wants to bite my head off." I said so quietly I wasn't sure if he heard me or not0.

"Don't worry about her. She won't do anything." He told me, but I could tell that he was unsure with what he just said. The bell rang and Jenn walked over to us, eyeing Nick's hand that was still on my arm. "Hey Jenn change of plans." Nick said.

"What change of plans…?" Jenn asked slowly.

"Miley wants to have the skit practice at our house." He said and I turned to him, giving him a look.

"You do?" Jenn asked me and I nodded slowly playing along with whatever Nick was doing. "If that's what you want." She muttered and turned away to walk to her class.

"What was that about? She's mad at me now." I asked him as he let go of my arm and we started walking to Spanish.

"I knew she wouldn't say no if _you_ suggested that." He said with a smirk.

"But I didn't." I told him.

"You're not good with this going along thing, are you?" He chuckled and I pushed his arm lightly.

"Maybe if someone told me about it beforehand." I said and he turned away, chuckling lightly. We reached the Spanish class and saw everyone standing impatiently outside the door. "Does she do this often?" I asked.

"Who? The teacher? Yeah, she does. We should be used to the routine by now, but I guess some people aren't. Like my buddy Adrian over there." He pointed to a big buff guy that looked like he was about to punch a hole in the wall.

"He looks like he wants to punch a hole in the wall." Nick laughed, "At least I know that I shouldn't be in his way when he's mad." I said and Nick laughed again and soon I was laughing a long with him.

--

A few moments later, the teacher still hadn't shown up. "Want to play 20 questions?" He asked abruptly after a moment of silence between us. I nodded sleepily, feeling kind of stupid for almost falling asleep waiting for the teacher. "You want to ask the first question or do you want me to?" He asked and I pointed to him. "That tired, huh?" He chuckled.

"Yes! Oh my god, where's the freaking teacher?" I asked and he laughed.

"Favorite color?"

"Pink." I replied and saw a shocked look appear on his face. "Why do you look so shocked?" I asked.

"You don't look like someone who likes pink." He answered.

"I know. I've been told that a lot, but if you saw my room. You would probably think its some 5th grader's room." I laughed. _I can't believe I told him that._ I mentally scolded myself.

He laughed, "Its okay."

"What about you?"

"Red." He replied.

"I noticed." I laughed, pointing down to his red converses.

"I need to go get some green ones. Looks like you're a fan of converses too." He said, kicking my foot lightly.

"Oh, you don't even know." I laughed. "I think I have all the colors except green." I said, thinking about it.

"We can go shopping for green converses together." We laughed.

"Hey Nick." I looked up, surprised to see Marissa standing there with the fakest smile that I had ever seen.

"Uhm, hey." He muttered. "What's up?" He asked with no amusement present in his voice.

"Can we talk?" She asked. I could tell I was not wanted there right now. I started to get up, but Nick grabbed my hand and I looked at him. He looked up at me and I could see that he didn't want me to leave. Marissa glanced down at our hands and looked up at me. I quickly looked down, trying to avoid seeing her glaring eyes. I sat back down quietly listening to their conversation.

"What do you want? I thought you said everything you had to say at lunch." Nick said in a quiet tone.

"What does she have that I don't?" Marissa asked, hurt evident in her voice. _He likes someone else? _I thought, getting a little disappointed. I looked back at them and saw that Marissa was in tears. _Wait, I was the other girl?!_ I asked myself in disbelief.

"Marissa, please don't cry." Nick sighed.

"I can't help it. I just don't get what happened. I thought you loved me." Marissa answered her voice cracking as she said each word.

"Can we please not do this here?" Nick asked her softly and Marissa shook her head.

"No. I want to know the reason right now." She said, looking over at me with her tear-filled eyes. "Just tell me why Nick." She said, looking back at him. I felt extremely awkward sitting there. I had no business to be there listening to their conversation.

"Uhm, I'm going to get a drink of water." I said, getting up.

"Miley—" Nick started.

"Let her go. We need to talk." I heard Marissa say. I quickly walked towards the water fountain, afraid to look back at Nick and Marissa. I took a drink, but quickly spit the water back out.

"Ew." I said out loud. The water didn't taste like water at all. I thought about going back, but changed my mind and decided to wander around the school for a while. After 20 minutes of walking, I decided to walk back. When I arrived at the classroom, I didn't see anyone. _Shit. _I didn't see my backpack where I had left it; I quickly entered the classroom, all eyes on me as I reached the teacher's desk. "I'm so sorry that I'm la—"

"Nick said you went to the bathroom." She interrupted me. "Just take a seat." She told me. I nodded and turned around. Everyone was back in their little conversations. I saw Nick sitting in the corner of the class with Marissa. They were… _kissing?_ I looked away sadly and took a seat in the nearest desk by me.

"You're new here right?" I heard someone ask me and I looked over at them.

"Yeah. I moved here a few days ago." I answered and he nodded.

"Hey, I'm Adrian. The guy you thought wanted to punch a hole in the wall." He put his hand out and smiled.

I blushed, "Nice to meet you." I said quietly shaking his hand. "I'm Miley."

"Don't worry. I'm not as mean as I look. I don't get why people just say that. They don't know how much that hurts me inside." He laughed, causing me to laugh as well. Adrian was pretty funny. "So, did you move here because you hated your last school or…" He asked.

"My mom transferred jobs... again." I answered.

"That must suck ass. Always moving around like that." He said and I nodded.

"Yeah it does." I answered truthfully. "But, I think I'll like it here." I smiled, "The people here are really nice and friendly. And one of them is extremely _funny._" I nudged him.

"Gee, I wonder who you're talking about." He laughed, causing me to giggle. He smiled and I could already feel a really good friendship forming.

--

"I'll see you tomorrow." Adrian said, giving me a quick one arm hug.

"Bye." I smiled. He walked away and I turned to find Nick, accidentally running into him. "Okay, I really need to stop that." I laughed.

"Why were you talking to Adrian?" Nick asked as we started walking toward the loading buses, no humor showing in his voice.

"Oh, he was just being nice. We became friends." I smiled and Nick looked away from me.

"Be careful." He mumbled.

"What does that mean?" I asked and he looked back at me.

"It means that you should be careful." He said in a serious tone. "He's not as nice as he seems. He's hurt a lot of girls." Nick answered.

"Nick, I just said we became friends. It's not like we're going to start dating or something." I told him. I saw him wince a little at the term I used.

"I'm just saying." He replied.

"It's not like you're jealous or something." I mumbled.

"What?" He asked, turning his attention to me.

"I said it's not like you're jealous. You're back with Marissa." I said.

"Who said that?" He asked and I rolled my eyes.

"I'm not blind you know. I saw you two kissing in the corner of the room." I answered.

"You saw that?" He asked and I nodded, trying to conceal the hurt that I was feeling.

**a/n: Okay, so I somewhat got my inspiration back, but it's kind of weak xD lmao. Here's what I'll do. I have ideas I just don't know how to corporate it into a chapter. If you want, I'll just update frequently it's just that the chapters will be shorter. Like way shorter than this one. Is that okay? In the next few chapters I'll be playing around with a lot of characters, so I hope you didn't forget about Meg or Joe because they're going to play a key role in future chaps. Review.**


	11. Can I Do Something?

**a/n: Update, yay!**

**Disclaimer: I own NOTHING, but the plot. (:**

Shy

**Chapter 11**

_Can I Do Something?_

"Marissa and I aren't back together." He said quietly.

"If you two aren't back together, then why did you guys kiss?" I asked. Nick didn't answer for a while and we were left with an uncomfortable silence. "So, uh did we pass our bus yet?" I asked, breaking the silence.

He stopped walking and looked back, "Yeah, actually we did." I laughed and he looked over at me. "What's so funny?" He asked confused.

I shrugged, still giggling. "I just find that funny."

"You're weird." He said chuckling as he bumped his shoulder into mine before we turned and started walking the other direction to our bus.

"That's such a nice comment." I said sarcastically, bumping my shoulder back into his while trying to ignore the butterflies that were fluttering like mad in my stomach. I looked forward and quickly looked over at him. "Nick."

"What?" He looked over at me.

"Our bus is leaving right now." I said frantically pointing at the yellow school bus a few yards in front of us.

"Oh shit. Come on." He said quickly, grabbing my hand in the process. We ran as quickly as we could and reached the bus just as it was about to take off. I knocked on the bus door and sighed in relief as our bus driver opened it.

"Almost missed it." She chuckled. I thanked her. "Are you two together now?" She asked loudly and I stared at her confused.

"What are you—" I quickly looked down at my hand which was still latched onto Nick's. I let go of his hand and looked up at the bus driver, flushed. "Uhh, no. We're just friends." I squeaked nervously before walking down the bus aisle quickly.

"That was smooth." Nick chuckled quietly behind me.

"Shut up." I whispered back before taking a seat behind Jenn. "Hey…" She ignored me as Nick took a seat next to me.

"Scoot over." He whined playfully.

"I want the aisle seat." I told him.

"Well, I want the window seat." He replied.

"Then go by the window!" I giggled.

"I can't when you're in my way." He answered.

"Sucks for you then." I smirked at him. I was shocked to see how comfortable I was around Nick now just after our little conversation at lunch today. It was like his whole attitude towards me changed since the morning bus seating incident.

"Oh, I have an idea." I looked over at him as Jenn looked back at us. I guess she was as curious as I was. Nick pulled me onto his lap and I looked up at Jenn. She rolled her eyes at us and turned back around. Whispers erupted from the bus seat next to us and I could feel my cheeks reddening as the seconds went by. Nick slid over and pulled me off his lap. "There, problem fixed." He said oblivious to how much that little gesture had made me so nervous.

I nodded and turned away from him, fanning myself with my hand. "What's wrong?" He asked.

"U-uhm, it's just a little hot in here." I stuttered, hoping that the redness in my cheeks had gone down.

"Here, I'll open up the window." He said standing up.

"No." I pulled him down with a little too much force. "It's okay."

"If you say so." He replied kind of confused.

I saw Jenn slip her earphones into her ears and I turned to Nick, "Do you think Jenn's mad at me or something?"

"Why would she be?" He asked.

"Because I—you wanted the skit rehearsals to be at your guy's house." I answered.

"If she is, that's kind of a stupid reason to be mad at you." He replied. I nodded and Nick took out his phone, his fingers grazing over the number keys as he wrote his text. I looked down absentmindedly as thoughts filled my mind rapidly.

--

"Could you take Miley up to my room?" Jenn asked Nick dryly as we walked into their house.

She turned to her right and walked into the kitchen. To me their house was more like a mini palace. I opened my mouth in awe as I admired the fancy artwork and furniture that we passed. _How could they this house was small? _I asked myself.

I quickly closed my mouth when Nick and I started walking up the carpeted staircase. My left hand brushed against his right gently causing butterflies to fiercely erupt in my stomach. I could already fill the warmness come to my cheeks as I turned my attention down to the carpet. I quickly pulled my hand back to me and looked up at Nick. A flicker of disappointment flashed on his face, but immediately vanished. We reached the top of the stairs and walked down the hall in a slow pace.

"Uhm, her room is the second one on the left." He pointed to the wooden door down the hall, "Do you want me to stay with you until Jenn comes up or are you okay by yourself?" He asked.

"Is it alright if I stayed with you until Jenn comes up?" I asked. _God, I sounded so clingy._

He nodded, a slight smile appearing on his lips. We continued walking down the long hall, making a right at the last door. "Excuse the mess." He warned before turning the knob. _Messy? _I thought. His room was _spotless. _Sure, there was a few things thrown here and there, but other than that it was _SPOTLESS. _Nick walked over to his bed and picked up a stack of magazines, "You can sit down if you want." He told me, placing the stack of magazines carelessly on his leather computer chair. I sat down, surprised that his bed was really… _comfy._

He took a seat next to me, shifting the bed slightly as he sat down which caused me to lean in closer to him. Our arms touched, causing a shiver to run through my body. My heart was beating so fast I was afraid that he would be able to feel it. "So, uh what are you and your group doing your skit on?" I asked shakily trying to hide how nervous I was. _Smooth Miley. Real Smooth. _I told myself.

"We're not quite sure yet. We're not really good with the 'acting' stuff." He shrugged. _Was it me or was he moving closer? _I thought. "How about you guys? I bet Jenn came up with this super dramatic skit for you guys to do." He said, inching closer.

"Uhm, if she did she never told me anything about it…" I said quietly, unaware that I was too inching closer to him. My breath quickened as I saw the little distance between the both of us.

"Can I do something?" He whispered softly, his lips a few centimeters from mine. I nodded and closed my eyes unable to say anything.

**a/n: Ooh what's Nick going to do? Review (:**


	12. Stuck in the Middle

**a/n: Another quick update. Grr, I'm not fond of short chapters. It may not be a problem for you guys, but it bugs me xD lol. Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I own NOTHING, but the plot. (:**

Shy

**Chapter 12**

_Stuck in the Middle_

Nick caressed my cheek lightly in his hand; gently brushing his lips against mine. I sat there, a million emotions running through my head as he continued to kiss me. He pulled away when he sensed that I wasn't kissing back; I opened my eyes and stared at him, flustered and nervous. He stared back at me, probably wondering about what I was thinking. "I...I should probably go see if Jenn's back in her room." I stammered, quickly getting up.

"Mi—" I stumbled as I walked out and felt a pair or arms wrap around me before I fell foward.

"Whoa, careful there." Someone said.

I looked up, "Joe?"

"What's the rush?" He asked, chuckling lightly.

"Oh, hey Joe." I squeaked nervously, getting out of his grasp.

"Is something wrong?" He asked, sensing that I wasn't being myself.

I shook my head, "Uhm, do you know where Jenn is?" I asked.

"She should be in her room, but watch out. She looks really pissed. She probably found out about the cookies." He chuckled lightly.

"Well, it was nice talking to you." I said quickly, trying to walk past him until he grabbed my arm.

"Wait, can I do something really quick?" Joe asked. My eyes widened and I turned around to face him. "I know I jus met you and all…" _Oh my god. Please don't tell me he likes me! _I thought frantically. He sucked in a big breath before continuing on, "I like you... a lot."

"I like you too." I replied, not looking up at his face.

"Not in the 'friends' kind of way." He whispered and I looked up at him.

"Oh, that's—" Joe leaned forward and kissed me. I quickly pulled away and turned to see Jenn staring at the two of us, her jaw dropped slightly. My cheeks were practically on fire now. I looked over at Joe, watching his face form into a confused expression. I walked into Jenn's room quickly and she followed, closing the door behind her.

"Whoa." She said, taking a seat in her leather computer chair. "That was whoa." She repeated.

"I can't believe he just kissed me." I whispered, putting my face in my hands.

"But don't you like him?" Jenn asked and I shook my head slightly.

"I like Nick." I mumbled into my palms before I looked up at her.

Her jaw dropped again; she took a seat besides me on the bed, "I don't know how I didn't see that." She whispered, putting an arm around my shoulder.

"I don't know what to do or how I feel. Joe kissed me and Nick kissed me right before that." I said really fast, not sure if she caught any of that.

"Wait. Back up a little. Nick kissed you?" She asked and I nodded, "But I don't get it. I thought he was still with Marissa. They were inseparable this morning." She said.

"That's exactly what I thought until he told me at lunch." I sighed, "Do you think that he's just playing with my emotions?"

"Honestly, I don't know the answer to that. Nick and I have been really distant lately." She looked at me sympathetically.

"I'm just the rebound anyways. He probably doesn't even like me." I mumbled.

"Don't say that. There's a lot to like about you." She said.

"Like what?" I asked, "What is there to like?" I motioned to myself and looked over at her.

"Well, for one, you're pretty more like gorgeous. Two, you have the most amazing eyes. Three, you have a good sense of humor." She smiled. "The only thing you need to work on is being more open. Being more loud."

"That's the problem. That just isn't me. I've just gotten used to it just being me and my thoughts." I said quietly.

"Well, you don't have to do that anymore. New school equals new friends which equals a louder and more open personality." She nudged me, "You have nothing to worry about. Meg and I will help you with it."

"Good luck." I muttered.

"Awe, thank you for your enthusiasm." She said sarcastically and laughed.

I laughed, "It's just I don't know... I'm not really comfortable in my own skin ever since the move and stuff." I replied.

"Well, that's why I'm here. I'll teach you to be more loud and hyper." She laughed, "When you're at home. You should just let loose, put some music on and dance like no one is watching. That would be a good start." She said.

"I'll try." I said.

"Come on, put a little more 'yeah!' in it." She laughed.

"I'll try!" I yelled louder and we both cracked up.

"We should start on the skit." She giggled, getting up from the bed.

"Where's the bathroom?" I asked, "I should probably go before we start."

"Uhm, when you leave this room. Continue walking then take a left. It should be the first door." She told me.

"You guys should make a special map for me." I joked and walked out. I quickly stopped in my tracks when I looked ahead and saw Nick talking to Joe. I gulped and continued walking like nothing was wrong. I passed them successfully until…

"Miley." Joe and Nick said at the same time.

I closed my eyes nervously and turned around. "Yeah?" I squeaked. Nick and Joe glanced at each other confusingly.

"Uhm, Joe, you can go first." Nick said and I turned to face Joe.

"Formal is in a few days and I was wondering if you wanted to go with me?" Joe asked and I looked over at Nick, a shocked expression playing on his face.

"You like her?" Nick asked Joe.

"If I didn't. Why would I be asking her?" Joe asked, looking over at Nick.

I watched them stare at each other, "I…"

**a/n: What's Miley's answer going to be? ;o SURPRISES. Meg coming in next chapter ;D yay! Lol. Review.**


	13. Hot and Cold

**Disclaimer: I don't own, anything but the plot.**

Shy

**Chapter 13**

_Hot and Cold_

"Uhm, sure I'll go to formal with you." I answered not looking at either of them.

"Really?" Joe surprised and I looked up at him, seeing a huge grin plastered across his face. I nodded slowly and he gave me a quick peck on the cheek before walking away. My cheeks reddened and I looked over at Nick.

"Why didn't you tell me you liked him?" He asked quietly. "You could've stopped me from kissing you earlier."

"Nick, I—"

"Have fun." He said before brushing past me, his shoulder running against mine.

The inside of my mouth dried up and suddenly I was unable to speak. I quickly walked to their bathroom, turning on the cold water. I splashed myself in the face with the cool water, trying to hide the tears that were forming in my eyes. "What am I doing?" I thought aloud. I grabbed a dry towel off of the rack and wiped my damp face; I threw the towel in the woven basket and walked back into Jenn's room to see her typing something up on the computer.

I closed the door and she looked over at me, "Hey Miley, I fou—" She stopped mid sentence. "What's wrong?" She asked.

"I-I'm going to formal with Joe." Was all I could muster before she got up, wrapping her arms securely around me.

"Why did you say yes?" She asked softly.

"Because Joe's a really nice guy and I just couldn't tell him no." I mumbled into her shoulder.

We pulled away from the embrace and sat down on her bed, "He'll think that you like him now…"

"I know." I sighed.

"What about Nick?" She asked.

"What about him? He's probably mad at me now." I wiped away the tears that I didn't know were rolling down my cheeks until I touched my face. "If I was him, I'd be mad at me."

"Well, did he say that?" I shook my head. "Then you can't assume that. He many be a bit upset, but I don't think he's mad at you. Go talk to him." She reassured and pulled me up.

"I don't really think he wants to see me right now." I mumbled and Jenn rolled her eyes.

"Come on. You can't fix a problem unless you go talk to the person about it." She told me, pushing me lightly into the hall.

"Jenn—"

"Good luck." She slammed the door on my face.

I stood there shocked for a few seconds before walking down the hall to Nick's room. I stood in front of his bedroom door, hesitant to knock. After a few minutes of debating with myself quietly, I knocked on his door.

_No answer._

I knocked again.

_No answer._

I sighed and looked down, noticing that the door was unlocked; I turned the knob and opened his door slightly. I heard him talking on the phone and decided that it would be best that I leave, but then I heard part of his conversation and stopped mid in my tracks.

"Hey Marissa…" I heard him say. There was a moment of silence, then I heard him speak again. "I was wondering if you wanted to go to formal with me…?" He asked. I heard Marissa squeal from the other line; I gasped softly and Nick looked up from where he was sitting and we locked eyes for two seconds. "I gotta go. See you tomorrow." He quickly hung up the phone, "Miley—" I quickly shut the door and started back to Jenn's room. I heard the door creak open, "Miley, wait." I heard Nick say from behind me.

He quickly grabbed onto my arm, "Let go." I told him.

"Only if you promise not to walk away when I let go." He held onto my arm firmly.

I nodded and he let go of me slowly. "Can you please look at me?" He asked quietly and I turned around.

I tried to hide the disappointment in my voice as I spoke, but failed. "You're going to formal with Marissa?" He nodded and looked away from me. "Are you only going with her because I'm going with Joe?" I continued.

He looked back at me, "Why would you even say yes to him?"

"Because if you would've beat him to the punch and asked me. I would've been your rebound girl. So, why does it matter that I'm going with him? You're back with Marissa. Congrats." I retorted.

"Maybe if you said no to Joe, we wouldn't be having this argument right now. And who said you were my rebound girl?" He replied in the same tone.

I glared at him, "Well, maybe I said yes to Joe because I actually like him." I lied. Nick's expression changed from getting frustrated to disappointment. He looked so fragile now like if I touched him, he'd break into a million pieces right then and there.

"That's really… great." His voice cracked.

"Nick, I didn't mean to say that."

"If you didn't mean to then why did you?" He asked quietly.

"I don't know." I replied.

"How do you not know?" He asked.

"I don't know." I repeated again.

He sighed, getting frustrated again with the lack of answer. "I don't want you to go to formal with Joe."

I looked at him, "What? How could you even say that." I said, getting mad.

"I like you a lot." He grabbed my hand gently, hoping that I wouldn't pull it away. I was about to, but he laced his fingers through mine gracefully. "I like you and I want you." He whispered.

"No, you don't." I said, pulling my hand away.

"His face softened, "Why won't you let me in?"

"Because every time I give someone the chance to come into my life. I always end up the one getting hurt." I replied, my voice quivering.

"Do you really think that I would do that to you?" He asked.

"Yes. I think you['re very capable of doing that." I replied not looking at him.

"I know that you like me."

"Wow, cocky much?" I asked.

"I'm trying to have a serious conversation right now." He said annoyed.

"Not doing a very good job." I said, frustration dripping in my voice.

"Oh my god." He muttered, "Why can't you just accept that I like you?" He asked.

"Because why would an up like you like a girl like me?!" I asked. He pulled me closer to his body and I looked up at him, "What the heck are you doing?" I asked; I could feel my heart racing and my cheeks burning from the proximity between us.

He rubbed my left cheek with the pad of his thumb gently, causing me to blush even more. "I like you because you're different than all of the other girls." He murmured softly before his lips were on mine, kissing me passionately.

**a/n: (: Review please. Sorry, if I made any mistakes _**


	14. Your Eyes Are Beautiful

**a/n: REVIEW and ENJOY (:**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything, but the PLOT.**

Shy

**Chapter 14**

_Your Eyes Are Beautiful_

I pulled away a few seconds later and blushed even more. "You shouldn't have done that." I whispered looking down.

"But I did." He pushed my chin up so that I looked at him. "It's not like you're cheating on Joe."

"I know, but I'm supposed to be upset with you right now!" I said, getting out of his grasp.

"About the whole Marissa thing?" He questioned. I nodded, "It's not like I'm back together with her." He told me.

"Yeah, but she probably thinks that you guys are now." I replied crossing my arms over my stomach.

"And Joe will think that you like him." He retorted. He was right, Joe would think that. I dropped my arms down, "Well… you…." I couldn't think of anything. "Never mind." I sighed not looking at him.

"Do you want to leave?" He asked after a moment of awkward silence.

I shrugged, "I don't know." I mumbled quietly.

He sighed and sat down on his bed, "Come here." He patted the empty spot next to him. I walked over and sat down next him; he pulled me onto his lap, startling me a little. "Don't be afraid." He chuckled and I blushed, feeling stupid for getting scared. He held my hand lightly in his, stroking it gently.

"What does this make us?" I asked quietly and looked at him.

He looked up at me and smiled, "Well, what do you think?"

"I don't know."

"That's your favorite line isn't it?" He asked, chuckling a little.

"No, I seriously just don't know." I sighed.

"Don't stress." He touched my cheek lightly, "You'll get white hair." He smirked and I giggled. "That's better." He smiled and I leaned my head down in the crook of his neck. "Do you know what I want us to be?" He asked.

"No, what?"

"Miley, will you be my girlfriend?" He asked softly.

I lifted my head up and looked at him, "What?" I asked in a whisper.

"I guess I'll take that as a no." He said looking away from me.

"No, I mean yes. I—" I stammered.

"So yes?" He asked hopefully. I nodded shyly and he smiled at me.

"Yeah, I'll be your girlfriend." I blushed looking down.

"You're so beautiful when you blush." He breathed, grazing his fingertips over my pink cheeks. I looked up and our eyes met, my blue ones boring into his soft chocolate ones. He leaned down capturing my lips in another lingering kiss. I pulled away smiling; he pushed a piece of loose hair behind my ear and kissed my cheek softly.

"If I told you something, would you laugh at me?" I asked as he intertwined his hands with mine.

"Depends on what the thing is." He said chuckling.

I hit him on the arm lightly, "Please don't laugh." I said jutting out my bottom lip slightly.

"Okay, okay." He said grabbing my hand again. "What is it?"

"You're my first kiss and my first boyfriend." I said quietly.

"Really?" He asked and I nodded shyly.

He grinned. "I think that's really cute."

"What is?" I asked.

"That I'm your first boyfriend." He replied giving me a peck on the lips.

"That's kind of sad." I replied.

"No it isn't." He argued.

"Nick, I'm 16, a sophomore in high school and I barely got my first kiss…" I said.

"You're a late bloomer, that doesn't make it sad. It just makes you even more different." He smiled, leaving another soft kiss on my cheek.

"You're just being a suck up." I giggled.

"I am not." He said looking away, which caused me to laugh even more. "It's the truth though." He said, wrapping his strong arms around my waist.

"Okay Mr. Suck Up." I smiled at him.

"Oh, so we're now calling each other names?" He smirked.

"No, we're just calling you names." I laughed.

"But that's unfair." He replied.

I shrugged, "I don't care."

He kissed me on the lips lightly, "Do you care now?" He asked.

"Nope." I replied simply.

"How about…" He kissed me again on the lips, tightening his grip around my waist. "Now?" He asked when he pulled away. My eyes were still closed and I was positive there was a smile playing across my face.

I opened my eyes and stared into his; he ran his hands up and down my arms slowly, causing me to shiver in response. "I think I should get back to Jenn now." I whispered, my eyes still locked onto his.

I broke the gaze and got up, a sad look appeared on his face, "But I don't want you to leave."

"She's going to think something's going on." I told him.

"Because something is." He pulled my hand up to his lips and kissed it.

"Yes, but she doesn't know that." I replied smiling.

"One more kiss." He murmured. I leaned in and kissed him softly, ready to pull away.

"Not so fast." He said softly, pulling me to him. I tripped over something and stumbled forward accidentally knocking him back onto the bed with me on top. "This could work." He smirked.

I blushed as he pulled my face closer to his, "You have beautiful eyes." He complimented and I shook my head. "Yes, you do." He breathed onto my face, making my heart flutter.

"What are you talking about? Marissa has the prettiest eyes I've ever seen." I whispered back.

"Hers may be pretty, but yours are beautiful." He smiled.

"Mr. Suck Up." I mumbled causing him to chuckle.

"Miles, I'm being serious right now." He stroked my cheek. Wow, no one had called me Miles in ages and it sounded so beautiful coming from his lips; I smiled.

**a/n: My fave chapter that I've written so far (: Grr, I'm having a lot of difficulties bringing some characters back into the picture, but I'll figure it out D: Long reviews make my day and make me want to update more (: Longer chapters to come once school work dies down. Which is soon, three projects are turned in and I have a stupid presentation on Thursday. Blahh.**


	15. Here In Your Arms

**a/n: REVIEW and ENJOY (:**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything, but the PLOT.**

Shy

**Chapter 15**

_Here In Your Arms_

For the past hour, I had been laying in Nick's arms as he told me stories about when Jenn was a little girl. I giggled and looked up at him, "Jenn did that?" I asked and he nodded, laughing. I looked at my watch, "8:50. Nick, I need to go." I said suddenly sitting up.

"Already?" He asked as he sat up as well.

"I was supposed to leave your room two hours ago." I replied getting up.

"Well, we were having a very important discussion." He got off of his bed too and we walked towards the door.

"Nick, we were talking about how Jenn attacked you and Joe when you guys were five." I laughed.

"Don't tell her I told you." He said and I laughed again.

"Wait, who's taking me home?" I asked.

"I don't think my dad is home yet. So that means you'll have to stay." He smiled.

"Nice try, but my mom is going to kill me. I'll just ask Joe to give me a ride or something." His face fell. "I mean—"

"It's okay. It's not good to be a jealous boyfriend." He replied opening the door for me.

"You can come too." I smiled.

"No, I have some homework I have to do." He said pointing towards his desk.

"Oh, okay." I looked down. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

He pulled my chin up, "Of course." He kissed me softly. "Good night."

"Night." I smiled and walked back to Jenn's room.

"Oh my god, what happened?!" She nearly tackled me as I walked into the room. Her eyes bugged out, "Oh my gosh, you're with him now!"

"Wait, how did you know?" I asked confused.

"Your lips are swollen." She said pointing to them. "Which means you were kissing him!" She squealed loudly and I covered my ears.

"Owww."

"Ah! I knew it! I knew it!" She jumped onto her bed and started jumping up and down happily; I watched her, laughing. She stopped and sat down, out of breath. "Does that mean you two are going to formal together now?"

"No…" My voice trailed off.

"What? Why not?" She asked.

"Because, I mean I already said yes to Joe. You should've seen how glad he was that I said yes. I can't go back to him and tell him that I'm going to go with his brother instead." I replied.

"Miley, you may have fixed one problem, but another one is going to start once formal comes. Does Nick have a date?" She asked.

I nodded, "Yeah, Marissa."

"Marissa is his date?! Why the fuck did he ask her? Oh my god, I'm going to slap him." She grumbled, getting off of her bed.

"It's okay. We're fine with each other going with other people." She gave me the eye and I looked away, "So, do you think Joe could give me a ride home?" I asked quietly.

--

Joe stopped in front of my house and I turned to him, "Thanks for the ride." I gave him a small smile. I opened the door, ready to get out.

"Wait." Joe grabbed my hand and pulled me back inside.

"What is it?" I closed the door and looked over at him.

"I saw you go into Nick's room and not come out for a long time…"

"Oh…" I said looking down at my hands.

"You like him?" He asked softly and I nodded.

"Nick and I are together now." I couldn't look up at his face.

"Oh." I could hear the disappointment in his voice. "Why didn't you tell me that you liked him?" He asked.

"I-I don't really know." I answered quietly.

"Wow, I feel so stupid now.." He sighed.

I looked up at him, "Please don't. That's what I was trying to avoid. The last thing I want you to feel is stupid, I want you to be happy."

"Well, I'm far from that." He mumbled.

I sighed, "It's okay if you don't want to go with me anymore." I murmured.

"It's not that… Don't you want to go with Nick?" He asked.

"Well, yeah, but I already said yes to you Joe.." I quickly covered my mouth. "I didn't mean it like that! I want to go with you Joe." I said right after.

He chuckled shaking his head, "I knew he would get you, I mean I should've figured it out. I saw the way he looked at you and I saw the way you stared at him. Kind of stupid for me to think that you would like me…"

"Joe…" I looked down. "I'm kind of shocked that either of you even like me."

"Why would you say that? You're a really pretty girl." He replied.

"No, I'm not." I laughed. "Look at me, I'm just an average girl."

"I'd choose an average girl over stuck up one any day." He looked over at me.

"Oh.." I looked over at him too. Joe stared at me for a few moments, a few moments too long causing me to look down nervously. "So, do you still want to go to formal with me?" I asked.

"It's up to you whether or not you want to go with me." He replied.

"Thanks for putting all the pressure on me." I fake smiled.

"No problem." He fake smiled back.

I laughed, "Yeah, I still want to go formal with you."

"What about Nick? Does he have a date?" Joe asked.

"Uhm, yeah he does. Marissa." I replied fidgeting with my fingers.

"What the hell?" Joe asked and I shrugged.

"I should get going now. My mom will kill me if she sees me in the car with you." I said, giving him a weird one arm hug. "See you tomorrow."

He nodded, "Bye."

"Bye." I whispered, getting out of the car. I waved at him slightly before walking down the path to the front door. I picked up the ceramic turtle and didn't see the key in there. "Where is it?" I asked myself quietly as I started looking around.

"Problem?" Joe asked and I jumped slightly, forgetting that he was still there.

"Uhm, no. You can go home." I told him as I rang the doorbell. "Hurry." I shot him a look and he laughed before pulling out of the driveway.

"Later Stewart." He called out before driving off.

I rolled my eyes as the door swung open. My mom stared back at me, rollers in her hair, her hands placed on her hips. "Do you have any idea what time it is right now? Do you not check your phone or something?! I called you over 6 times." She rambled on and I walked into the house.

"Yes mom I know what time it is and my phone was on silent. Sorry." I mumbled as I took off my converse.

"Next time, call if you know you're going to be late. It'd save me a heart attack." She said coldly; I rolled my eyes. "Are you hungry?" She asked walking into the kitchen.

"No, mom I'm not." I told her, trying not to sound rude.

"Well, get ready for bed." She told me.

"Mom, it's only 9 right now!" The rudeness came out.

"Don't use that tone with me, Miley. First you come home late and now you're disrespecting me. Get ready for bed." She said once again.

I gave her a mean look and walked quickly to my room, closing my door behind me. I flopped down onto my bed and huffed into the pillow loudly. "Ugh!" I flipped over and stared at the bare ceiling. "She had to ruin a good day." I mumbled and pulled myself off of the bed. I grabbed my pj's from the closet and walked to the bathroom.

"Ew." I said as soon I saw my reflection in the mirror. I turned on the shower and peeled off my clothes before stepping in. The warm droplets hit my body, making me relax a little. For once, I was actually happy with how my life was going. I washed my hair, quickly rinsing the shampoo out of my wavy locks. I washed my body and switched the water off. I wrapped a white towel around my body and stepped out. I patted my body dry and slipped my flannel pj's over my body. I grabbed my brush and ran it through the tangled brown mess. After thinking that I looked okay. I grabbed my dirty laundry off of the floor and walked out of the bathroom, feeling refreshed.

"Don't go to sleep with your hair wet." My mom told me as I walked past her room.

"Yeah yeah." I grumbled and walked into my room. I dropped my wet towel and dirty clothes into the hamper and sat down on my bed. I grabbed my phone off of my desk and deleted my missed calls. I turned the volume up and placed it back on the desk. Suddenly, my ringtone blasted throughout the room. I quickly picked it up, "Hello?"

Hey…" The person on the other end said.

"Uhm, who is this?" I asked as my eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

"Guess." They said.

"Seriously, who is this?" I asked getting nervous and scared.

They chuckled, "Miles, its Nick. No need to be afraid."

I relaxed a little, "How did you get my number?" I asked.

"Who else? Jenn gave it to me." He answered.

"Right… I knew that." I lied and he laughed again.

"Right.. whatever you say." I could tell he was smiling.

"What's up?" I asked, running my hand through my damp hair trying to get out all the knots and tangles. I failed miserably.

"Nothing much. Just wanted to see what you were up to." He replied and I smiled.

"I thought you had homework to do…"

"What are you—oh, yeah homework. I'll get to that later." I laughed.

"Go do it." I said into the phone.

"Do I have to?" He whined and I giggled again.

"Fine, you can fail." I replied.

"Thanks for the support." He joked.

"Hey, I was trying to help you before." I defended.

"I was kidding, Miles." He replied.

"I know you were…" I lied again. Suddenly, there was nothing but silence. "Hello?"

"Oh, sorry. I was thinking…" He answered a few seconds later.

"What about?" I asked curiously.

"About you." He replied simply and I could feel my stomach flutter and my cheeks redden. I closed my eyes, happy that he couldn't see me right now. "I miss you." He whispered.

"But I was at your house an hour ago." I smiled looking down at my nails.

"Yeah, I know, but I still miss you." He said again.

"I miss you too." I said softly.

"You don't have to lie to me. You were probably thanking god that you got to leave." He joked again.

"Oh my gosh, how did you know?" I joked back and giggled. I heard a faint knock on my knock and I put my hand over the receiver. "What?" I called out.

"I said bed." My mother said from behind the door.

I rolled my eyes and turned off my lamp light. "Good night mom." I said loudly.

"Night." I heard the hallway light switch off and my mom close her bedroom door. I took my hand off of the receiver, "Hello?"

"You go to bed this early?" Nick asked.

"No." I shifted so that I was comfortable on my bed. "My mom just wants me to go to sleep right now. I don't know why, but I think she had a rough day or something." I sighed. "I was kind of rude to her earlier."

"What happened?" He asked.

"She spazzed on me after Joe dropped me off, saying that I should've called because I accidently left my phone on silent. I wasn't trying to sound mean or anything, but she was over questioning me—"

"She's a mom, that's her job." He cut me off.

"I know that, but I don't know. My mom and I have been in a weird funk ever since we moved here. I always get mad at her for the littlest things. I guess I just hate the fact that she puts her job before me. I barely see her before breakfast if I'm lucky and at dinnertime _if_ she comes home early." I couldn't believe I was telling Nick all of this. He probably thought I was being a big brat or something.

"Hey, I feel your pain. My parents are the same way too. Sometimes they don't even come home for days, but we're all used to it now." Nick said.

"Glad someone finally gets how I feel." I said softly.

"I should probably let you go before your mom catches you and you get in more trouble..."

"No, please don't hang up." I begged. "I don't care if my mom hears me or not…"

"Yeah, but that's not a very good impression of me on her." Nick replied.

I sighed softly, "Please don't hate me when I say this…"

"Say what?" He asked, his voice growing in concern. "Is something wrong?"

"I can't tell my mom about us." I said quietly.

"Why not?" I couldn't tell if he was disappointed or not.

"I'm kind of not allowed to date yet... hence you being my first kiss and my first boyfriend…" I said in a whisper.

"What if she finds out?" He asked.

"Let's hope she doesn't." I said quietly. There was another knock on my door. "Nick, I gotta go. I'll see you tomorrow." I hung up before I heard his response. My mom knocked on the door again and I threw the covers over my body as she walked in.

"I know you're still up." She said and I slowly pulled the covers off of my head. She sighed, "I told you to dry your hair before you go to bed. What if you get sick, huh? I don't have time to stay home and take care of you, okay. God, Miles. What has been up with you today?" She asked.

"Nothing mom." I mumbled.

"Did something happen today that I should know about? Did you get in trouble in school? Did you get in a fight with a friend?" She questioned.

"No, mom. None of that happened." I replied.

"Well, what did?" She asked.

"Nothing." I said quietly. "Can I go to sleep now?"

"Miles, what happened to telling me everything?" She asked softly.

"Mom, I haven't told you everything for almost 2 years. Why the sudden change of actually being here for me now? Shouldn't you be doing some work or something?" I asked, quickly regretting the words that just left my mouth, but I didn't say anything to fix it.

"You think I kill myself in work for nothing? I'm doing this for you, Miley. I'm trying to help you live a good life. After your father left, we barely had enough money to feed the two of us. You should be thankful that you're living under a roof right now." She lectured.

"I am thankful mom! I just hate how your job is always causing us to move all over the U.S! First, we were living in Florida, then you had to transfer to New York, and now we're in California. You may not know it, but it's so difficult always having to start over again and again. Making new friends and knowing I can't get to know them that well because I'll be moving again in a few months." Tears were forming; I wiped at my eyes before one could slip out. "I always had to leave everyone with little information. Some people hate me now because I just left without telling them why. Remember Oliver? He doesn't want to talk to me anymore mom!" I cried.

"Miley…" Her voice was hoarse and I could tell she was swallowing back tears.

"I know you're doing this for me, but can't you take a few days off? You know, so we can actually talk about stuff. Like the old days, remember those?" She nodded, a few tears slipping down her cheeks. "Sometimes I wish daddy was still here with us, maybe we'd be a happy family and didn't have to go through all of this crap." I breathed wiping away the tears. She looked over at me and a fresh layer of tears glazed over my eyes. "I miss him so much, mommy." I choked through the tears.

She pulled me close to her and I cried into her night shirt, "Shh. Darling, I miss him too." She cried. "But there's nothing I can do about it. He chose to leave. He chose _her _over us."

I sucked in a shaky breath and wiped my tears away. "I know, but it just hurts that he cut off all communications between us and him." My mom wiped at her eyes with her sleeve and looked up at me. "You're hiding something aren't you?" I asked softly.

She sighed and wiped at her eyes again. "Over the past few months, he's called 4 times..."

"He what?!" I stood up.

"Miles, sit down." She told me, but I remained standing up.

"What did he say mom?" I asked trying to hide all the emotions I was trying to conceal.

"Please don't be mad at me." She said and I clenched my fist lightly.

"Mom…"

"The first time he called we were still in New York. You were in school and he called my office saying that he was coming to visit. I didn't let him." My eyes slid shut and I gritted my teeth, waiting for her to continue. She sighed, "The second time he called we were getting ready to move. Again, he said he would come and see you. I just couldn't let him come Miles. I know that you've missed him, but I just couldn't bare you seeing him. What if he brought someone?"

"Mom, that's the thing. You wouldn't be able to bare seeing him with someone else, but I wouldn't care! I miss my dad. I know he loved you once, but now he's moved on…" Tears slipped from my eyes. "I want to be happy for him, can't you too?" I asked.

"Of course I can't." She said shakily. "I loved your father with all of my heart. Then, he stomped on our 17 year marriage. Miles, how do you expect me to feel?!"

I looked down, not knowing what to say. "Mom, I'm so sorry." I looked up at her, a new layer of tears forming in my eyes. "I know you hate him, but I want to see dad." I told her.

She nodded, more tears falling from her eyes. "Here, I'll get his number and you can call him." She stood up.

"Mommy, wait." I walked over to her and hugged her tightly. "Even though I miss dad... I'll always love you more because after all the pain he's caused you, you're still standing strong with your head held high and I love you."

She pulled away and smiled at me weakly before walking out of my room. I sat down on my bed and ran my hand through my now dry-ish hair. I sighed and laid down.

--

I woke up from the brightness shining through the window blinds. I didn't even noticed that I dozed off last night. I looked over at the side table, reading the clock. _6:30. _Strange. I never woke up _that _early. I stretched and saw that my mom was asleep beside me. "Mom?" I shook her lightly, but decided to let her sleep.

I swung my feet over the side and got up; I slapped my forehead lightly. The bus was going to be here in 15 minutes. I quickly ran over to my closet, opening all the drawers trying to find something good to wear. "Where the heck is that one shirt mom bought me…" I mumbled as I continued going through the drawers. I gave up and got on my feet, grabbing a plain white t shirt and a pair of jeans. I quickly slip them on and pulled a pair of white socks over my bare feet. I walked out of my room and straight to the bathroom. I grabbed my toothbrush, brushing my teeth as fast as I could. I washed my face and ran the brush quickly through my hair. _Thank god it went through smoothly._ I looked at myself in the mirror and sighed. "Better than nothing." I told myself and walked back to my room.

I grabbed my backpack and stuffed my cellphone into my pants pocket. I ran to the kitchen and grabbed a blueberry muffin from the box inside the fridge. "Mhm, real food." I said with my mouth full. I put my converses on, forgetting to tie the laces; I walked out the front door just as the bus pulled up on the curb. I smiled to myself, "Success." I whispered to myself and got onto the bus.

I walked down the aisle, suddenly feeling myself go back into my shell as people stared at me. I looked down and continued walking down until someone grabbed my hand. I looked up and saw Nick. "Hey…" I said quietly.

"Sit by me?" He asked and I saw that someone was already sitting next to him, nearly glaring at me.

"Seat's already taken." I mumbled about to continue walking.

"He can scoot over." Nick said and I shook my head.

"It's okay; I think I see a seat in the back." I told him.

"I'll go with you then." Nick said getting up. Everyone looked over at us and I blushed.

"Nick, it's okay. Really." I whispered.

Nick looked back and saw that the only empty seat was next to Joe, but Joe was oblivious to what was happening because he was too busy listening to his music player. "Can you two just sit down?" Someone asked and Nick nodded, sitting back down.

"I'll talk to you later." He told me and I continued walking until I tripped over someone's shoe.

"Sorry." I looked up and saw Marissa glaring at me.

"Watch is loser." She told me and I kept walking, knowing that she and her friends were probably talking about me.

I sat down next to Joe; he turned and looked at me. "Hey…" I said softly. He nodded at me and looked back out the window. I sighed and took out my phone to see that I had a new text. I opened it up.

_I wish you sat by me ):_

_-Nick._

A small smile appeared on my face as I typed my reply back.

_I know, but the guy next to you seemed like he REALLY wanted to sit by you and just you. Haha._

_-Miley._

I giggled and waited for him to reply; Joe looked over at me, wondering why I was so amused.

_O_o should I be afraid of this guy?_

_-Nick._

I typed back quickly.

_VERY afraid. LOL. He likes you, Nick :D _

_-Miley._

_That's not funny -____- I'm afraid of him now._

_-Nick._

I laughed and slid my phone shut when I saw that we were approaching the school. The bus stopped and everyone filed off of the bus. I gave a smile at Joe who didn't return it back. My smile disappeared and I got off of the bus and saw Nick waiting for me. "Hey…" I smiled and he engulfed me in a tight hug.

"You smell like a blueberry muffin." He mumbled against my hair.

I pulled away, "I had some earlier."

"How could you not save me some?" He asked as we started walking towards the entrance of school.

"Because I was hungry..." I looked away. He chuckled as he intertwined his fingers through mine. I looked over at him and smiled a little. He leaned in and I closed my eyes , ready for a kiss until I heard someone call his name.

"Nicky!" It was Marissa. I opened my eyes and saw her walking towards us.

"What is it Marissa?" Nick asked.

"Walk me to class, please?" She asked, jutting her bottom lip out. Nick looked over at me and I nodded.

"I'll see you in P.E." He told me, giving me a soft peck on the cheek. I nodded again and watched as he walked away with Marissa linked onto his arm. She looked back at me and smirked. I sighed and looked around for Jenn.

"Kind of mean for your boyfriend just to leave you like that." I turned around and saw Meg smiling at me.

"Meg!" I smiled walking over to her.

"Why didn't you tell me you and Nick got together?" She asked.

"Because we barely got together last night." I beamed.

"Hello, cell phone." She said.

"I don't have your number." I replied.

"Oh yeah... that would be a problem." I laughed. "I'm so happy for you two." She pulled me into a tight hug.

I pulled away and smiled at her, "So, what's going on in life? I haven't talked to you... since yesterday. Oh." Meg laughed.

**a/n: WHEEEEEE! A 4,000+ word chapter :D I'm so proud of myself xD Filler chapter, kinda. I finally brought Meg back in kinda xD Family drama is going to erupt. Formal is coming up in a few chapters (: Coming up with ideas for a fluffy Niley chapter, awwwh. Next goal, 5,000. Don't know if that's going to happen xD Review please (: Long ones are nice since I gave you an extra long chapter (: haha.**


	16. Beautiful Soul

**a/n: REVIEW and ENJOY (:**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything, but the PLOT.**

Shy

**Chapter 16**

_Beautiful Soul_

"We need to talk more." Meg swung her arm around my shoulder and we started walking toward the quad.

"You should've came with me to Jenn's house yesterday. You would've found out about Nick and me." I smiled.

"Ehh." Her arm dropped to her side and I looked over at her.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Jenn and I aren't really on good terms right now." She replied, running a hand through her sandy brown locks.

"What's going on? What happened?" I questioned since I had no idea what was going on.

"It's nothing… We're fighting over something stupid. I wanted one thing and she wanted another. I guess we couldn't find a solution so she just ignored me." She sighed.

"Want me to talk to her? I can if you want…" I suggested.

"No, it's okay. If she wants to resolve the predicament that we're in, she knows where to find me." Meg replied.

I didn't know what to say so I just nodded at her. "I hope you guys fix what you're arguing about. I'm here to listen." I told her.

"Thanks." She smiled, opening up her arms again. I walked forward and she engulfed me into a tight hug. "We may have just met, but I feel like we'll become best friends." She said when she pulled away.

I smiled back at her; the bell rang, telling us to head to class. "I'll see you at break." She nodded and walked the other direction to class. I felt arms slide around my waist, causing me to jump.

Nick chuckled, "I didn't mean to scare you." He said softly.

I turned around to face him and smiled. "I always do that; you'll have to deal with it." I laughed.

"I don't really want to go to P.E. right now." He said as he intertwined his fingers with mine.

We walked towards the gym. "Well, I don't either, but we have to." I said.

"Or not…." I looked over at him confused.

"What do you mean or not?" I asked.

"Since we both don't want to go to P.E., why don't I just call up Brian to give us a ride and we can leave?" He said.

"I don't know… won't we get in trouble?" I asked.

"I guess we won't go." He said.

"No, we can go…" I said unsurely.

"I don't want to make you go if you don't want to go." He said, rubbing circles on my hand with his thumb, making it harder for me to concentrate on my thoughts.

I watched the people walk by us as they hurried to get to class before the tardy bell rang; I looked back over at Nick. "Yeah, let's go." I said quietly.

"Miley..."

"What?" I asked.

"Do you really want to go? I don't want to force you if you think you're going to get in trouble…" He said.

_It's just a day not going to school, that won't do any harm_. I told myself.

"Miley?" Nick asked when I didn't say anything

I snapped out of my thoughts and looked at him, "Yeah?"

"We don't have to." He told me.

"No, let's go." I said.

"Are you sure?" Nick asked again.

"I'm positive." I answered.

--

I ran my hand through my hair and smiled at him warmly. We were in the middle of his backyard, me on one end and him on the other. He smirked over at me and took a step forward; I automatically took a step back and stumbled over a twig. He laughed as I tried to gain my balance back. I looked back over at him and he stared at me, waiting for my next move. I continued walking backwards, not knowing where I was going. He continued forward and I was backed into the yard fence, him a few yards away from me. I looked to my left and then to my right. I didn't have anywhere to go.

"You're going to lose." He said in a singsong voice.

"Yeah, no I won't." I smirked at him. He took a few more steps forward, now just a few feet away from me.

"Just forfeit and come here." He said opening his arms up.

"No." I crossed my arms over my chest stubbornly. He dropped his arms and moved forward swiftly. He was now face to face with me. My arms were still across my chest; he leaned in to give me a kiss, but I turned away so that his lips made contact with my cheek. His lips were so soft.

"Come on Miles…" He whispered.

"No, I'm going to win." I said. He put his hands on the fence on either side of me, making sure I had no where to go. I looked up. "Why do you have to be so beautiful?" I mumbled causing him to chuckle lightly.

"I am not beautiful. You are." He said, making me shake my head in disagreement.

"Never in a million years." I said.

"Why do you always say that? Miles, you're so beautiful and I mean it every time I say it." He told me and I looked away from him.

I shook my head, "You're on crack or something."

I saw him roll his eyes at me and backed away, "I guess I'll just call up Marissa and she'll come and help me."

I frowned and quickly grabbed onto his arm before he turned away, "Please don't." I said sadly.

He must've seen the sad look on my face because he quickly wrapped his strong arms around me as I snuggled into his chest, inhaling his scent. "Fine, you win." I mumbled.

"Sweet." I could sense he was smiling; I looked up at him and he leaned down, placing a soft kiss on my lips.

"What are we doing?" I asked as he interlocked our hands together.

"Well, my English teacher assigned me to write a poem about someone very special to me." I nodded, waiting for him to continue as we walked through the sliding back doors. "I have an idea of who to write about, but I don't know what to say in the poem…"

"Who are you writing it on?" I asked.

"Just this girl I met a few days ago." He smiled.

"Oh, really? What does she look like?" I smiled playing along.

"Hmm, she has long brunette hair, gorgeous blue eyes and a beautiful smile." He grinned and placed another kiss upon my lips.

"Wow, I never heard of her." The corners of my mouth curved into a smile. "She must be really lucky."

"I'm the lucky one." He whispered causing me to shiver a little. He smiled, "What should I say?" He asked.

"I think you should just write whatever comes to your head. Just let the words write itself and before you know it, you'll be done with an amazing poem." I smiled.

"Mhm, we'll see. Are you hungry?" He asked.

I shook my head, "I just had a muffin remember?"

"Oh yeah, the delicious blueberry muffin." He chuckled as he pulled me with him to the kitchen.

"I love your kitchen." I said as I took a seat at the dinner table. "It's like it's from a magazine or something." I whispered in awe.

"It wasn't always like this. My parents spent months refurnishing everything. They wanted it to look like it's from a magazine. Which sucks because we never get to cook our own food. We have other people make it for us." He rolled his eyes.

"Hey, you're always welcome to come over to my house and cook. We don't really use it either." I said.

"Why not?" He asked as he opened the fridge, taking out salsa dip.

"My mom works long hours so when she is home, we eat take out." I replied.

He set the glass jar on the counter and looked in the cabinets for a bowl. "Hmm, I should come over then." He smiled.

"Need help?" I asked as I rose from my seat.

"I got it." He took out a glass bowl and I sat back down, watching him prepare his food.

"You're going to eat salsa and chips for breakfast?" I giggled.

"Yes." He stuffed one into his mouth. "Do you have a problem with that?" He said with his mouth full.

"Yes." I crinkled my nose. "You'll have bad breath."

"You want some?" He asked sliding the glass bowl over the counter. "You can have bad breath with me." He laughed.

I stood up, "I'll pass." I laughed and slid the bowl back towards him.

Nick walked over to me, "So, I can't kiss you now?" He asked.

I shook my head, "Not unless you go brush your teeth."

"Seriously?" He pouted a little.

I gave him a quick peck on the lips. "That's all you're getting."

He huffed, "You're mean." He walked back over to the counter and took another chip, stuffing it in his mouth.

I walked over to him and put out my hand for him to grasp. "Take your salsa and chips. Let's go start on your poem." He groaned, but grabbed the bag of chips and bowl of salsa anyways. We walked up to his room and I took a seat on his bed and looked around. "Hmm, your room looks messier." I laughed.

"Yeah, I know." He said as he started picking up the articles of clothing scattered all over the floor. "My mom's going to nag about it to me later." He threw everything in the hamper and took a seat beside me.

I laid back and yawned. "I'm so tired."

"And why is that?" He asked as he laid down next to me.

"My mom and I got emotional after you hung up last night. We were crying and everything. It's just nothing." I mumbled and closed my eyes.

"It seems like it's bothering you. Are you sure it's nothing?" Nick asked; I could feel him stroking my hair lightly. I opened my eyes and my gaze met his, blue mixing with brown. "Want to talk about it?" He asked softly.

"No…" I said softly.

"It'll make you feel better." He said.

"I don't think it will." I turned onto my side and looked at him.

"It doesn't hurt if you just tell me." He said.

"Yeah, I know, but I might cry." I said quietly.

He sat up and sat me up too, "Miles, what's going on?" He asked.

"It's nothing." I shook my head.

"But I don't want to see you like this." Nick whispered.

"I'm sorry. Let's uhm, let's go work on your poem or something." I suggested.

"We can do my poem another time…" He said.

"Nick, I don't want to talk about it..." I sighed.

"Okay." He placed a soft kiss on my cheek and I looked down at my hands. "Sorry for pushing you."

"It's okay." I said softly.

"Miles... " He poked my side gently making me squirm. "Smile." He poked me again and I giggled.

"Stop, that tickles." I laughed.

"Good." He poked me again.

"Nick." I laughed. "That's unfair!" I jumped up from where I was, only to get pushed up against the wall. "Nick…" I breathed out before he attached his lips onto mine. I slowly began to kiss him back, but pulled away when I needed to catch my breath. He put his forehead to mine as we both tried to gain our breath back. I blushed as his gaze on me intensified. "Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked in a murmur.

"Because you look amazingly beautiful right now." He brushed his fingers over my cheeks and I dropped my gaze.

"Stop it." I said, not well with compliments. "Those are lies."

"Why would I lie to my girlfriend?" He questioned and I shrugged.

"You tell me." I said.

"Well, I'm not lying. Like I said before. I mean it every time I say it." He kissed me one more time and stepped back.

I slid down the wall. "I think I'm going to sleep now." I yawned.

"Against the wall?" Nick asked.

"Yeah because if I sleep on your bed, you'll poke me." I opened one of my eyes and looked at him.

He looked away, "I won't do that."

I laughed lightly, "Right... you won't." I closed my eye and began to doze off a little.

"Miley…" I felt Nick's presence beside me. "We didn't ditch school just for you to sleep."

"Well, what do you want to do?" I mumbled tiredly.

"Well… we could go to the park or something." He held my hand gently.

"Mhm sounds good to me." I replied.

"Then, get up." He chuckled.

I groaned. "I'm comfortable." I felt his arms go around me and I was lifted up. My eyes quickly shot open, "Nick, put me down."

"Hey, you wouldn't get up. I want to go to the park." He said

"Nick, I'm heavy. Put me down." I told him.

"Heavy? You're kidding right?" I shook my head. "Miley, you're as light as a feather." He started walking down the stairs and I clung onto him tighter just in case something happened. We reached the bottom and he set me down.

"I could've walked down myself." I blushed.

"Yeah, I know, but you didn't have to." Nick smiled.

I smiled to myself and he held out his hand. I took it willingly and we walked out of his house. "Don't you need to lock it?" I asked as we started walking past the houses.

"No, Brian could do that for me." He replied.

"Oh okay." We swung our hands back and forth lightly and then something hit me. My mom probably drives by this neighborhood every time she goes to work. I stopped walking, pulling Nick back too.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"What if my mom sees me?" I said.

"How would she see you?" He asked confused.

"Because she always goes through here when she goes to work." I replied.

"And what time does she go to work?" Nick asked.

"I don't know, 9?"

He took out his cell phone and checked what time it was, "It's almost 9:30."

"She could be late. Let's go back." I said.

He laughed, "You worry a lot."

"It's just I'll be in so much trouble if I get caught."

"You want to go back to school?" He asked and I shook my head. "Are you sure?"

We walked back to his house and slipped back in. "I'm sure." I smiled.

"Hmm, I need inspiration. Let's go to the backyard or something." He said and started walking to the back doors.

I followed him and we walked back out to the spring air. I stared at the water in his pool and walked over to the edge, "It looks so fresh in there." I took off my shoes and socks and dipped my foot in there slightly.

"You want to go swimming?" Nick asked as I sat down.

"No, I'll just stick my feet in." I replied.

"Really? Because…"

I turned around to look at him, but he wasn't there. "Nick?"

"Boo!" He popped out of nowhere, causing me to shriek.

"Oh my god! Don't do that!" I pushed him on his chest.

He laughed, "I didn't think you would scream."

"Well, I did."

He continued laughing and I got up. "Miles, where are you going?" He asked, getting up too.

"Inside." I replied.

Nick grabbed hold of my hand before I could go any farther and spun me around to look at him. "I'm sorry that I scared you." He said softly and I looked down. "Miley…" He picked my chin up and left a soft kiss on my lips. "Don't tell me you're mad at me." He said.

"I'm not mad at you." I sighed.

"Okay, that's good. That means I can do this." He smiled and before I could ask what he was talking about; his hands moved down to my waist and pulled my body closer to his. He stared into my eyes and I could already feel the blush plastered on my face as his lips inched closer to mine, quickly closing the small space that was between us. One of his hands made it to my cheek, stroking it gently. MY arms automatically made it their way around his neck as the kiss intensified.

**a/n: Okay, so it wasn't my 5,000 word chapter, but I want to save that for the Formal chapter which is coming up very VERY soon along with other things I have up my sleeve (: Heavily Broken readers, I'm on writer's block for that sorry. ):**


	17. Battlefield

**a/n: REVIEW and ENJOY (:**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything, but the PLOT.**

Shy

**Chapter 17**

_Battlefield_

We broke apart as soon as oxygen was needed. I breathed in and out and I could already feel the flow of warmth in my cheeks as Nick kept his gaze on me. I looked down automatically and he took my hands in his; I stared at our hands that were interlocked and smiled a little. I loved the feeling that I felt in my stomach, it wasn't a nervous or scary feeling. It was an 'I can't believe this is actually happening to me' feeling.

"So, formal is in 2 days…" Nick said, starting a new conversation as he rubbed my hands with the pads of his thumbs.

"Yeah, I know." I said quietly, my attention still down at our hands.

"Are you excited for it?" Nick asked.

I shrugged, "I guess I am. It's kind of the first dance I actually have a date to." I said sheepishly and looked up at him.

Nick frowned slightly, "I'm not your first date."

"Even if I'm going with Joe. In my book you are." I smiled and leaned up to kiss him softly.

Nick sighed when we parted, "I wish I didn't ask Marissa to the dance. She's just going to be hard to get rid of."

"What do you mean?" I asked confused.

"Even if I'm going to the dance with her. I'm going to want to be dancing with you." Nick smiled and dropped my hands and placed his around my waist.

"I can't dance." I blushed.

"Even better." Nick grinned. "I can teach you." He pulled me to the middle of his room.

"Right now?" I asked and he nodded, pulling me closer to him so that I could feel his breath against my neck, causing butterflies to erupt in my stomach freely. He stepped forward and I stepped on his foot, making him groan out in pain. "I'm so sorry…" I said letting go of his hands and backing away from him. "I told you I couldn't dance." I blushed harder.

"No, no. I'm fine." He put his hand out again and I took it hesitantly, not sure if this was a good idea. He pulled me closer to him again and I could feel the nerves bubbling in my stomach again as we swayed around his room, spinning in circles every once in a while. I giggled when he dipped me back; he pulled me up and my face was a mere centimeters from his. "Not that hard right?" He breathed against my face.

I gulped and nodded softly, my eyes sliding shut. Even though there wasn't any music playing, we swayed around his room for a few more minutes before I opened my eyes and stared lovingly into Nick's brown eyes. His hand brushed softly over my cheek, pushing a piece of my hair out of my face. "Your eyes look tired." He whispered softly.

"It's because of last night…" I murmured.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to bring it up again."

"It's okay. I'll get over it." I muttered and he kissed my cheek lightly before we started to sway back and forth again.

--

"You guys skipped school?!" I heard Jenn yell from outside the room. I opened my eyes slowly and took in my surroundings, noticing that I was face down on Nick's bed. I actually _did_ fall asleep. I looked under me and saw myself cuddling into one of Nick's pillows. I blushed and moved the pillow from under me. I wiped the sleep away from eyes and got up slowly, making my way towards the door when suddenly it flew open, revealing a disappointed Jenn.

"You of all people, I wouldn't have thought would skip school." Jenn whispered to me.

I opened my mouth to say something, but got cut off when Nick came into the room right after her. "Don't get mad at her. It was my idea at first. Geez, why are you so pissed anyways?" Nick asked.

Jenn ignored him and narrowed her eyes at me, "Guess what was today in History?" She asked and I shrugged slowly, not knowing why. "Today was the day we did our presentation. I know we weren't ready since we didn't even rehearse, but I was hoping you'd be there to back me up!" Jenn said, raising her voice.

"It was?" I asked guiltily. "I'm sorry, if I knew I would've been there to back you up…"

"It doesn't matter anymore. When it was our turn up, Meg and I made complete fools of ourselves since we didn't know what the hell we were talking about. It didn't help either that Meg and I were mad at each other either!" She took in a deep breath, trying to keep calm. "Okay, I'm over it." She sighed and I looked down.

"I'm sorry." I mumbled out again.

"Whatever, like I said, I'm over it." She said, still in a cold tone. "Me and the girls are going out to buy our formal dresses now. Angie wanted me to ask you if you wanted to come along… or would you rather be here with Nick?" She crossed her arms lightly over chest.

I looked up at her, then at Nick who just nodded slightly. "I have no money on me right now." I replied. Jenn looked over at Nick who automatically walked toward his desk, grabbing his wallet. "No." I said, my eyes widening when he took out two bills. "I can't have you pay for my dress, Nick."

"Why not?" Nick asked, walking over to me.

"It's not right to just take your money. I'll feel bad. I don't like taking things from others." I replied.

Jenn walked over to Nick and whispered something into his ear. He nodded and walked closer to me. "Miles, can I see your hand?" He asked and I stuck my hand out slowly, not sure of what he was going to do. He placed the money in my hand and closed my hand and quickly walked back to Jenn's side.

"Nick, I'm not taking your money." I said walking toward them. They backed up and I continued forward.

"Just take it, Miles. Nick wants you to have the money for the dress." Jenn said.

"It just makes me feel like a bad person for taking money." I said quietly.

Jenn looked over at Nick for help. "It's no big deal, Miley. Just take it." He smiled.

I hesitated. "Nick…"

"If I have to, I'll force you to go shopping. Which is really weird since all girls like to shop." He smirked at me.

"I didn't say I didn't like to shop… I just don't want to take your money." I said walking over him, trying to put the money back in his hands. He moved out of the way and the money dropped onto the floor. "Nick, pick it up." I said. He shook his head and I sighed, defeated. "Okay, fine. I'll use your money. Are you happy?"

He nodded and smiled. "Yes, I am."

"I'm paying you back though." I mumbled.

"No, you aren't." He walked up to me and wrapped his arms around me. "You don't have to. It's nothing, really."

I laid my head on his chest, "You make me feel like a gold digger." I frowned into his chest.

"Miles, I just want you to be able to get your dress tonight with the others…" He whispered softly. "Is that really hard?"

"Uhm, Miley, I'll meet you downstairs in the front. Angie's mom is picking us up…" I heard Jenn say awkwardly before I heard the door close.

I closed my eyes, "I should get going." I said.

"One more minute." He murmured and I felt his soft lips onto of mine. I smiled and pulled away slowly. "I'll call you later tonight, if I can." I told him.

"I'll walk you out." Nick said, intertwining his hand with mine. We walked down the stairs and out the front door and everyone's attention turned to Nick and me. I quickly looked down.

"Ready to go sweetheart?" I heard an older woman say. I'm guessing it was Angie's mom. I looked up nodded. Nick gave me a quick kiss on the cheek before letting go of my hand. I walked over to the car and we all got in.

As soon as we pulled out of the Gray's driveway, Angie turned back to face everyone. "Oh my gosh. Since when were you dating Nick Gray?!" Angie asked excitedly, I could feel the blush plastered on my face as everyone looked over at me. I was confused that Jenn hadn't told her yet.

"Uhm, we got together last night." I said quietly and the whole car squealed except for Angie's mom and Jenn. I blushed even deeper.

"Why didn't you tell us Jenn?" Angie asked, looking over at her.

"Well, I'm sorry I don't keep you guys up to date." She snapped and the car quickly went quiet. Angie turned the radio up to hide the tension that was floating in the air. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. _Was Jenn still mad at me?_ I asked myself.

"So, what kind of dresses do you think you guys will buy?" Angie's mom asked cheerfully, not noticing the awkward silence drifting around in the car.

"Mom..." Angie groaned.

"Ang, you never introduced me to everyone." Her mom said, ignoring her groaning.

Angie sighed before turning around in her seat. "This is Jenn." She pointed to Jenn.

Jenn nodded, "Hi."

"This is Yanny, Jenn's cousin." Angie continued.

"Hey." Yanny smiled.

"You know Kathy." Angie laughed and Kathy stuck her tongue out at her.

"Thanks for the introduction." Kathy said and they both giggled.

"And our newest friend, Miley." Angie smiled.

"Nice to meet you." I said.

"You too, honey." Angle's mom smiled. The atmosphere in the car seemed to lighten up as everyone started to chit chat except for me and Jenn. She continued to stare out the window, her chin propped onto her hand. Her eyes seemed to wander around for a little while until her gaze went down and she shut her eyes. I turned and looked out the other window until I heard Angie call my name.

"So, how do you like it so far in California?" She turned back and smiled.

"So far, it's amazing." I smiled. "I thought starting at a new school would make it difficult to make new friends, but I made some really nice ones." I looked over at Jenn and saw a small smile appear on her face.

"Good." Angie said. "Because if anyone's messes with you, they'll have to go through us." Everyone agreed and I giggled.

"Thanks." I smiled.

We pulled into the mall parking lot and we all exited out of the car. "I'll pick you girls up in 3 hours." Angie's mom called out from the window as she drove away.

"Okay, does everyone want to separate into two groups and meet up here?" Angie asked and everyone nodded. Angie, Kathy, and Yanny left to Forever 21 while Jenn and I stood there, not saying a word to each other.

"So, uhm. What store do you want to go to?" I asked.

"You could've gone with them. I would've been fine on my own." She muttered.

"But the whole reason I'm even here is because you invited me, even if you were mad at me. I'm sorry for not being there for you and Meg in history, but I can't do anything about it anymore. Can we just push past it and buy our formal dresses?" I asked hopefully.

After a few minutes, she finally nods and a smile cracks on my face. "I know this store across the street from here, they sell the cutest dresses in town." She smiled and put her hand out.

I took her hand and we crossed the street to the store she was telling me about. It was small, _very _small, but it had this happy vibe to it. We walked in, the bell on the door ringing loudly, making the owner of the store look up. She smiled and stood up from her seat, making her way to us.

"Ah, Miss Jenn Gray. It's been long time since I've seen you here." The lady said with a strong asian accent.

Jenn smiled, "I know. It's been so long Mrs. Wong. How have you been?" She asked as I stood there awkwardly, listening to their conversation.

"I been fine, sweetheart. What brings you girls to the store?" She smiled over at me.

"This is Miley." Jenn introduced and I gave Mrs. Wong a small wave. "And we're here to look for formal dresses for the school dance coming up in two days."

"Ohh." Mrs. Wong's mouth formed into a small O. "I know just the ones you will like." She smiled. "Come come." She pulled us into the back room and shut the door, before opening another one. I stared in awe, wondering how such a small store could have so many extra rooms in it. "My daughter loves these dresses." She told us as she pulled a few elegant looking dresses out.

"Oh my gosh." Jenn whispered beside me, she was staring in awe at the dresses that Mrs. Wong held in her hands. "They're so beautiful, Mrs. Wong."

Mrs. Wong smiled, "I let you girls try on." She placed the dresses on a hanger and hung them on the wall before leaving the room.

"Which color do you want?" I asked as Jenn ran her fingers over the fabric.

She turned to me, "I like the teal one. You would look amazing in this one." She held a dress up for me to see.

"I don't think I can pull that off." I said truthfully as I took the dress in my hands. I ran my hand over its smooth fabric and took in every detail on the dress. I instantly fell in love with the dress that was now laying in my hands. It was really beautiful and I just wasn't. I handed the dress back to Jenn. "I don't think I can pull any of these dresses off." I said quietly.

She frowned, "Miley, don't be so hard on yourself. You'll look gorgeous in this." She handed the dress back to me. "You put your dress on first." She smiled.

"Uhm, can you turn around?" I asked blushing. Jenn giggled and turned around. I slipped my converses off and took my pants off. I slid my t shirt and tank top over my head and grabbed the dress from the table. I slid it onto my slim body, loving the way it felt. I smiled and smoothed the dress out and looked in the mirror. I turned around. "Okay, I'm done." I murmured.

Jenn turned around slowly and smiled when she saw me. "And you said you couldn't pull that dress off. Miles, you look freaking gorgeous in it. Nick won't be able to keep his eyes off of you at the dance."

"You really think so?" I beamed.

"I'm not lying to you, I promise." She said, putting her hand up and I laughed.

"Your turn." I smiled.

Jenn picked up the sea-colored dress from the hanger and put it on top of the table as she started to strip out of her clothes. When she was just in her undergarments, she grabbed the dress and slid it onto her petite frame. She fixed it and looked up at me, "What do you think?" She asked as she twirled around in a circle.

"It's like the dress was made for you." I smiled and she smiled too.

"We need to do this before we leave." She said and walked over to her bag, which she had dropped onto the floor earlier. She grabbed it and took out her Sony Canon camera.

"Pictures?" I asked.

"Yes pictures of our adventures of dress shopping." We laughed and stepped in front of the mirror. We smiled as she took the picture. A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door. Jenn and I jumped in response and turned toward the door. "Yes?" Jenn called out.

"You girls done?" Mrs. Wong asked and Jenn opened up the door for her. "Oh my gosh. You girls look beautiful." Mrs. Wong complimented making the smile on Jenn and my face grow wider.

"Thank you." We both said at once.

"Shoes?" Mrs. Wong asked and held out the boxes that she was holding.

Jenn's eyes sparkled and she hugged Mrs. Wong tightly. "I love you." She said and I laughed when Mrs. Wong dropped the boxes onto the floor. I picked them up and set them on the table.

Mrs. Wong laughed, "I love you too baby." She smiled. She walked over to the table and took one of the boxes. She opened it, taking out a pair of silver heels. "These just came in last week. I think they go perfect with your dress." She handed the shoes over to Jenn. "And these hot pink ones would go great with yours." She smiled and took another pair of shoes out of the box, handing them over to me. I slid my white socks off of my feet and put the high heels on, suddenly feeling really tall.

I stumbled a little and nearly ran into Jenn. "Whoa, you never ore heels before?" Jenn asked and I shook my head. "Like never in your entire life?" She asked.

I shook my head again, "There was never a time in my life that I had to... It was always either my sneakers or flats." I said and Jenn and Mrs. Wong stared at me, their eyes wide.

"Honey, why no heels?" Mrs. Wong asked.

"I-I'm a walking safety hazard." I looked down sheepishly.

"Well, we're getting these." Jenn smiled. "You can't pass these up. We'll just have you practice wearing heels for the next two days so you get use to them." Jenn said and I nodded.

"Good idea." I laughed.

--

Jenn and I walked out the room, shoes and dresses in hand and walked up to the register to meet up with Mrs. Wong. "Is that all for today girls?" She asked.

"Yes." Jenn smiled and I looked down at the price tags.

"Wow." I murmured.

"What?" Jenn looked at me as Mrs. Wong rang up the subtotal.

"These dresses and shoes are a bargain." I said.

Jenn smiled, "I know. That's why I like going here. They have the most amazing looking dresses for such a low price."

Mrs. Wong figured out the total. "It's going to be 100 dollars." She said, looking at us from behind her glasses.

Jenn reached into her bag for her wallet, but I stopped her. "Here, I'll pay for us." I said, taking out the two bills Nick had given me.

"No, it's okay. I'll pay." Jenn smiled and continued to look for her wallet.

"No, I insist. I mean I wouldn't even have the dress I'm buying if you didn't bring me here." I said, handing the two bills to Mrs. Wong.

"Miley…" Jenn whined and I smirked at her.

"Now you see how I felt with Nick." I replied.

She groaned, "Fine. You can pay, but I'm going to tell Nick about it." She smirked at me and I slumped my shoulders.

"Thanks." I mumbled and she giggled.

"No problem best friend." She patted my back and I smiled at the title. _I was her best friend?_ I asked myself happily. Mrs. Wong handed us our bags and we said our goodbyes to her. We walked out of the store and Jenn took out her cell phone. "We have about another half hour before we need to meet up with the others. Want to go eat? My treat." She smiled looking up at me.

"Sounds good to me." I said and we linked arms as we approached the crosswalk. We crossed the street back to the mall and stepped into the cheesecake factory. "This is my first time in here." I told Jenn as we approached an empty table.

"Oh my gosh, did your mom like never let you out of the house or something?" She asked, taking a seat.

"No." I rolled my eyes playfully at her. "I just thought that I would never be able to afford having a meal here and I doubt my mom would even let me step foot in here if she knew the prices." I replied.

"I don't know if I'm ready to meet your mom yet." She joked.

"I don't think you are either." We laughed and she stood up.

"Strawberry cheesecake?" Jenn asked.

"Yes, please." I said and she walked over to the line, taking out her wallet.

I looked out the clean, clear window, watching all the people pass by as they made their way into the mall. Suddenly, a familiar face popped up in the crowd and there was now a big lump in my throat. Why did _she _have to appear and ruin the good day that I was having? She and her group got closer and closer and I quickly turned away, hoping that she wouldn't have recognized me.

I heard the door pull open and my gaze was suddenly down on the table. Footsteps were getting closer to where I was and I could feel my heartbeat accelerate when the footsteps stop beside my table. I looked up slowly and there stood Marissa, hands on her hips, a smirk playing on her flawless face. She was dress in a jean miniskirt and a simple black tank top, even if it was a simple outfit, she still looked better than half the people that were sitting in this restaurant.

I swallowed hard as she leaned down toward me. I could smell her strong perfume and it took every might I had to not cough right in her face. "Hmm, fancy meeting you here. What are you doing here?" She asked coldly. "I'm pretty sure you can't even afford to get anything in this restaurant. I mean look at what you're wearing." She referred to my clothes and stopped at my converses. "Oh wow, nice shoes." She snickered and her whole group chimed in. I reddened, not able to say anything.

"What did a cat get your tongue? Talk Stewart." She spat at me and I sunk back in my seat, feeling little and defenseless. "I don't even see what Nick saw in you. I mean your ugly and the clothing that you wear is even uglier." She scoffed. "I mean look at you, hiding yourself in guy clothing. Wait, maybe it's because you don't have curves like I do." She referred to her body and smirked.

I stared at her, shocked, surprised, and hurt as I tried blinking back the tears that I held back. I gulped again and noticed that everyone in the restaurant was now turning to look toward our table, wondering what was going on. I looked down at the table top again, feeling completely humiliated and embarrassed by Marissa's words.

**a/n: Can you say BITCH?! xD lol. Next chapter has to do with more Niley and Miley's home life with her mom :o I think I have about three chapters left and then the story's gonna end, but don't worry. I have a ton of new ideas for new stories :D HB fans, I think I'm going on a break with that story for while. I just can't think of anything to write for that story, I'm sorry =/**


	18. World War III

**a/n: REVIEW and ENJOY (:**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything, but the PLOT.**

Shy

**Chapter 18**

_World War III_

"Is there a problem here, whore? I mean Marissa." I heard Jenn say from behind Marissa. "Wait, actually I did mean to say whore." I looked up and saw a smirk playing on Jenn's face.

"What do you want Gray?" Marissa said through gritted teeth as she turned around and looked at Jenn.

"I want you to move your fat ass out of my way so I can sit down with my _best friend_ and enjoy our cheesecakes_._ Unless you want to take this outside." Jenn said, her arms crossed firmly across her chest.

"Best friends with this _thing?_" Marissa laughed, making her whole group join in with her.

"One, if you were called Miley a 'thing' again, your face will be rammed up against this table top in 2 seconds and two, you may think you're better than her, but you are so NOT. I mean have you looked at yourself? Is that a zit I see on your forehead?" Jenn laughed and I covered my mouth, trying to hold in the giggles. Marissa gasped and turned to her friends whispering something to them. "What no comeback?" Jenn asked, a smile on her face.

Marissa turned to me. "You're so pathetic. You had to have your friend here defend you." She spat in my face.

"Oh, you did not just say that." Jenn said from behind her, grabbing a handful of Marissa's hair.

"Jenn, no!" I said, panicking.

"Ow!" Marissa screeched, causing more people to look over at us.

"Take what you said back." Jenn said angrily. "NOW!" She screamed in Marissa's face. I sat there motionless, not knowing what to say or do. I just watched as the two fought to get out of each other's grasp.

"Get off of me!" Marissa kneed Jenn in the stomach, making her groan out in pain and let go of her hair. Marissa was going to take a hit at Jenn, but I quickly stood up, standing in front of Jenn, taking the hit for her instead. Everyone gasped and Marissa brought her hand down, a small smile forming on her face.

I stumbled back a little and held onto the right side of my face, feeling it start throb a little. I could feel the tears leaving my eyes and run down the side of my face. It hurt _ a lot. _"Oh my gosh, Miley." Jenn said running over to me. "Are you okay?!" She asked, ignoring the fact that Marissa was smirking over at us.

"I'm alright. I... My face just really hurts." I said, still holding onto my face as the hot tears stung at my face.

"Excuse me, but I'm going to have to have all you ladies leave the restaurant before I have to call security." The manager walked over.

"Please, just kick them out. We did nothing." Marissa said, smiling innocently at the older man.

"Miss, all of you need to leave right now." He said, not buying her act.

Jenn brushed past Marissa, bumping shoulders with her and grabbed our bags from the seat before she walked back over to me. She helped me up and we left the restaurant as my tears blurred my vision. We heard footsteps behind us and someone pull me back by the arm to look at them. "You got off easy." Marissa spat at my face before she looked down at the bags that Jenn were holding. "Thrift store? Wow, Jenn Gray shops at a thrift store. I bet everyone's going to have a field day when they find out you buy clothes from Wong's clothing." Marissa smirked as her friends giggled.

"You know what Marissa?" Jenn said, getting ready to walk up to her, but I pulled on her arm causing her to stop in her tracks.

"She isn't worth it." I murmured to Jenn.

"Whatever chickens." Marissa said when she saw that we were about to turn away.

"You fucking bi—" I pulled Jenn away before she could finish the line she was going to say. "Thanks." She sighed and we continued to walk towards the place where we were supposed to meet everyone else. "Are you sure you're okay?" She asked, stopping me to look at the condition of my face.

"It just stings." I winced when she ran her slender fingers over my cheek. "A lot." I added.

"The nerve of her. I bet if her friends weren't there I would've been able to kick the shit out of her ass. I mean, how dare she even say those things about you! They're all lies!" Jenn said, anger pumping through her veins.

"Ehh." I looked away from her, still holding onto my face.

"You think what she says is true?" Jenn asked astonished.

"Well yeah, I mean. She is prettier than me and I do dress like a guy. All the things she says is true. I don't know what Nick saw in me…" I looked down sadly.

"Miley, look at me." I looked up at Jenn. "If you say that ever again. I will slap you silly, okay. You are gorgeous and beautiful and you should never, I repeat NEVER take what Marissa says seriously. She's just full of bullshit and she's just jealous of what you and Nick have together." Jenn said.

"I don't know." I said unsurely.

"Again, I mean it when I say I'll slap you silly." Jenn said again causing me to laugh a little.

"Okay, okay. I won't agree with Marissa says even though it's true." I quietly said the last part. Jenn glared at me and I looked away again. "It's just a habit because I know I'm not as pretty as other girls." I said.

"That's because you're way prettier. Cut yourself some slack, Miles. I mean, you need to stop bringing yourself down. It brings down your self esteem and that's not good." Jenn said as we saw the group waiting for us in front of JC Penny's.

As soon as we approached the group, I heard Angie gasp and everyone circled around me. "Miley, what happened to your face?" Kathy asked.

"I, uhm…" I looked over at Jenn.

"Guess." Jenn rolled her eyes and Angie's eyes filled with anger.

"Where the hell is that slut?!" She asked angrily as she stared past me.

"Guys, let's just forget it happened. I'm over it and she isn't worth our time." I mumbled.

"Like I said in the car, if anyone messes with you. They're going to have to go through us." Angie said.

"I just don't want more drama to start. And she'll just make fun of me even more. Can we just forget about it?" I asked quietly again.

"For now, I'll drop it." Angie muttered as her mom pulled up to the curb.

I covered my face the best I could and got into the car and quickly looked out the window, avoiding everyone's gaze at me. "Did you girls have fun?" Angie's mom asked and we all muttered our replies except me. "Miley?" She asked again.

"I had fun." I said still looking out the window.

"Are you—" Angie cut her mom off.

"She's fine, mom. Just been a long day. Our feet are exhausted, that's all." Her mom didn't ask any further and I mentally thanked Angie. The rest of the car ride remained silent as I felt my cheek start to throb again. I closed my eyes as the pain grew worse and the car suddenly came to a halt and I opened my eyes to see that we were in front of Jenn's house.

"Do you want a ride home, sweetheart?" Angie's mom asked and I shook my head, still avoiding eye contact with her.

"I'll just have my mom pick me up from here. Thank you for the ride." I glanced over to her quickly and smiled before exiting out the car with my bags in my hand. Jenn and I waved to everyone when they drove down the road. She turned back to the front door and rung the doorbell. "As soon as we get in. I'm getting ice on you—" The door swung open, revealing a smiling Nick.

"You guys are back." He grinned and Jenn rolled her eyes.

"Couldn't last three hours?" She teased and he stuck his tongue at her. I walked in and he shut the door behind us.

"So, did you have fun?" He asked and I turned away, shielding my face.

"Yup, loads." I said and walked into the kitchen after Jenn.

"Wait." Nick grabbed onto my arm and spun me around to look at him. "What's wrong? Why are you hiding your right cheek?" He asked as he started to peel my hand off of my face.

"No, I—" But it was too late.

His eyes went wide, "What happened to your face?! Jenn!" He called out as he stared at my face.

Jenn came back into the room, ice pack in her hand. "Look Nick, I know Miley's not going to want to talk about it." She handed the ice pack to me and I placed it onto my cheek, wincing. "But this has to do with your stupid little ex." She told him in a cold tone. "It should've been me that got hit, but Miley went in front of me. You should've heard the things she said to Miley. I had a reason to want to fight her." Jenn said and Nick glanced back over at me.

"Marissa did this?" He asked quietly and I nodded, causing more pain to my cheek.

"It's nothing. I'm over it, Nick. No big deal." I said softly.

"No big deal? Miles, do you not see what she did to your face? What if she did worse? You wouldn't be okay then." He said and I looked down.

"I just want to forget this even happened. Can someone please take me home?" I asked and we all just stood there, Jenn and Nick staring at me while my attention was down at the carpet. "Please?" I asked again a few moments later.

"Can I talk to you first?" Nick asked me and I nodded slightly, trying to avoid the pain.

Jenn looked at us, "I'll talk to you tomorrow." She said to me and I nodded. Nick and I walked up to his room and he sat me down on his bed.

"What did Marissa say to you?" He asked when I took the ice pack off of my face. His eyes widened again and he touched my face lightly.

"Nick, that hurts." I closed my eyes tightly.

"Sorry." He murmured. "I just... are you sure you're okay?" He asked me again.

"I'm fine." I looked down. "She just told me that I was ugly and the clothes that I wore were even uglier and said she didn't know what you saw in me. How she was better looking and how she has a better body… you know." I murmured softly and Nick pushed my chin up to look at him.

"Well, she's wrong. You are way more beautiful than she will ever be and I like you for you. Please don't think badly of yourself because of what she said. She's just jealous, Miley. Don't let her words get to you because that's the one thing she wants… for you to feel bad about yourself and if you let her think she won. She's never going to stop picking on you." He told me.

I closed my eyes, feeling the tears filling my eyes. "I just... I didn't even do anything to her." My voice cracked. "I mean, I don't get why she hates me so much that she would do this to me."

"Miles, I'm so sorry." Nick whispered.

I looked over at Nick, confused. "Sorry for what?" I asked.

His eyes looked pained as he replied, "Maybe we should take a break until the dance is over." He looked down.

"What?" I asked faintly.

**a/n: I have a little favor to ask you guys :D When you are able to vote, could you please go to the link on my fanfiction page and vote me as best new author (: It would really mean a lot to me if you guys did that :D And there you have it, another chapter ): Awwh. Guess, I'm getting annoyed with my writer's block for Heavily Broken. I'll see what happens after this story ends :o AHHH, Review please (:**


	19. Miss Negativity

**a/n: REVIEW and ENJOY (:**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything, but the PLOT.**

Shy

**Chapter 19**

_Miss Negativity_

"I just… I just hate how Marissa did this to you because of me." Nick hesitated for a moment. "I like you a lot Miley, but I can't see you being hurt like this… especially over me. Apparently Marissa's not going to give up anytime soon. So, maybe it's just a good idea if we take a break until the dance is over…" He said softly and the tears stung at my eyes even more.

"If that's what you want." I gulped back the lump in my throat and he looked up at me, seeing the hurt and pain in my eyes. "Uhm, I'll see you tomorrow or something." I croaked, standing up.

"Miley, I…" He murmured.

"Bye." I choked out and walked out of the room as fast as I could, running into someone's chest along the way, seeping my tears onto their shirt.

"What happened?" Joe asked and I looked up at him, the tears blurring my vision.

"Can you take me home?" I asked shakily, trying to stop crying. He nodded quickly and guided me down the stairs, passing by Jenn who caught my eye for a second, but Joe pulled me out the front door before she was able to open her mouth to say anything.

We got in his car and he grabbed a travel pack of tissues from the glove compartment, handing them over to me before closing it. I grabbed them from his hands and tore out a piece, quickly bringing it to my eyes, then to my nose. "What happened in there Miley? What did Nick say to you to make you cry?" Joe sighed as I struggled to stop crying.

"Nothing." I muttered out shakily and held onto the right side of my face.

"What's wrong with your face?" He asked glancing over at me for a second. "Why do you keep holding it like that?" He tried to move my hand out of the way, but failed.

"I got hit in the face." I replied, trying to push his hand away from my face. "Please don't touch it." I told him and he put his hand down.

"By Nick?!" Joe exclaimed, wide eyed.

"No, no. Nick would never do that." I looked down when I said his name. "It was Marissa."

"What? When?" Joe asked, still concerned about my condition. "Are you alright?"

"At the mall. Uhm, she and I had a little confrontation at the Cheesecake Factory. She was practically telling me how she was better than me. Jenn tried to stand up for me, but it ended up in a big argument and soon Jenn and Marissa were at each other's throat. It was supposed to be Jenn who got struck, but I stood between them and took the hit instead." I said as quickly as I could, looking up at Joe.

Joe shook his head, "It's always girls like here that cause shit to happen." He sighed and looked over my face carefully. "Are you sure you're okay? Did Jenn give you ice to put on your face?"

"Yeah, she did, but I… uhm, left it in Nick's room." I looked down again when his name escaped my lips. "Can you please just take me home now?" I asked softly.

"I can't take you home when you're in this condition, Miley. I need to know if you're okay." Joe said.

I looked up at him. "I'm okay Joe, really." I lied and he shook his head.

"No, don't even think about trying that with me. I'm not fucking retarded, Miley." He said and I looked away. "Look, I'm not trying to sound harsh, especially not when you're crying and stuff. I just want to let you know that I'm here for you, okay?" He asked, grabbing a hold of my hand.

A strange shock ran through my hand and I looked over at him, "Thank you, Joe." The tears glazed over my eyes again, slowly slipping down the sides of my face. "I just want to go home right now."

"Okay." Joe murmured and let go of my hand, putting the keys into the ignition. He eased out of the driveway and I wiped away the tears from my eyes as I looked out the window. The car came to a stop and we were soon on the curb to my house. "Call me if you need me, okay?" Joe asked and I nodded.

"Thank you again." I murmured and he nodded.

"Anytime." He said. I unbuckled my seatbelt, grabbing my belongings and exited the car. I walked up the pathway and grabbed the key from the ceramic turtle, swiftly opening the front door. I heard Joe's car speed off as I stepped into my house, noticing that my mom wasn't home from work yet.

_Thank god._ I slipped my shoes off and walked quickly to my room, shutting the door behind me. I dropped my stuff onto the floor and landed on my bed, face down; my pillows quickly absorbing the tears that were leaving my eyes again. I had my first kiss, boyfriend, and break up all in the matter of 3 days. I shook uncontrollably as I continued to cry. I rolled onto my side and wiped my tears as stared at the bare wall in front of me.

Nick flashed through my mind, making me close my eyes as the tears continued to drip down my cheeks. Quiet sobs left my mouth and I shut my eyes even tighter. I didn't love Nick, why am I so attached to him now? He's just a guy, any other guy. He didn't even know who I was the first day I was here.

He had managed to capture and break my heart in two days.

My hand trembled as I brought it up to my face to wipe the tears from my face. I sucked in a breath and my eyes flashed open. "You're stronger than this, Miley." I told myself then my features crumbled all over again. "No I'm not." I cried, my eyes slipping shut.

I curled up into a little ball and let the tears continue to fall, not caring that there was a big wet spot on my pillow now. I stayed in that position for a few minutes before I heard my cell phone ring from inside my bag. I turned over again and felt around the floor until picked up the pink bag.

I took out my phone, looking at the caller I.D. _Jenn._ blinked on the screen continuously.

I answered, "H-hello?" I stuttered quietly.

"Miles." Jenn breathed out.

"Yeah?" I sniffled.

"Oh my gosh, are you okay?" I could hear the concern in her voice.

"I don't know." The tears continued on, dropping onto my bed sheets.

"What happened?" She asked quietly.

"N-Nick and I b-broke up." I closed my eyes.

"I'm going there right now." I heard shuffling, then keys jingle. "Okay?" She asked.

"Who's taking you?" I asked quietly.

"That doesn't matter right now. What matters right now is that I'm coming over to see what happened." She said.

I hung up and dropped my phone onto the floor, listening to it hit the bag. I sighed and wiped my nose with the back of my hand. I knew that my room was a complete mess and I should get up and clean it, but my body had a different idea. All it wanted to do was lay there on the bed, feeling useless.

I stared up to the ceiling. I knew I should've been mad at Marissa, but for some reason I couldn't feel any emotion towards her. No hate. I wasn't mad. Not upset, well, not at her for some strange reason. I was just hurt and sad at what had happened less then 20 minutes ago. Did Nick really think that taking a break from each other would keep Marissa away from hurting me? Her attacks on me were going to get worse now once she finds out that Nick dumped me. I closed my eyes, trying to shake those thoughts out of my system.

I heard the doorbell ring and I slowly rolled out of bed, dragging my feet down the hall and down to the door. I unlocked it and opened it, revealing a worried Jenn. She quickly walked in and embraced me in a tight hug. I hugged back and cried into her shoulder; she rubbed my back soothingly, and then pulled away.

"What happened, Miley?" She asked softly.

"We broke up." I said, my voice cracking.

"But why? You guys seemed so happy a few hours earlier." Jenn replied.

"Uhm, let's go to my room." I lead her down the hallway and into the room. I sat down on my bed, automatically wrapping my thin arms around my knees, setting my chin on top of them. Jenn sighed and sat down next to me. "Nick thought it would be a good idea if we took a break until the dance was over." I told Jenn quietly.

She looked over at me, her features confused. "Why would that be a good idea?" She asked.

I shrugged. "I don't know, ask Nick." I breathed out his name and fixated my attention onto the computer sitting a few feet away from me.

"Miley, look at me." Jenn said and I slowly looked over at her. "I'm going to call Nick right now and you two are going to get back together." She said taking out her phone, but I quickly reached out and stopped her.

"No, I don't want to force him back into anything. If he wants to have a break, then I'll let him. It doesn't matter to me." I replied.

"Yeah, it does. I can see it on your face. You miss him and I'm sure as hell he's missing you right this moment too." Jenn said and I shook my head.

"Doubt it." I replied.

"Back to the 'I can slap you silly' thing. Miles…"

"I just thought that he'd go talk to Marissa about this, you know? Not break up with me." I could already feel the tears begin to burn at the corners of my eyes. "I guess I was wrong."

Jenn opened her mouth to say something, but closed it right after.

"I don't know why I'm crying. I mean I'm that important to Nick anyways." The tears began to slip and I didn't care if Jenn saw me or not.

"You're wrong." Jenn whispered. "You mean the world to him."

"Do I really? I mean we've only been dating for three days and we're already on a break." I said.

"It's Marissa's fault, not yours Miley." Jenn replied.

"Mhm, you stick with your story, I'll stick with mine." I wiped my eyes.

Jenn sighed, frustrated. "What do you want me to say? You always have something to say whenever I tell you something. How am I supposed to make you feel better?" Jenn asked.

"I don't know what to do anymore. I'm just a negative person, I'm pretty sure I told you that before. It's just who I am. I can't help, but think bad of myself because I just don't get what Nick ever saw in me." I replied.

Jenn grabbed a hold of my arms and shook me, "Just stop it, okay. I get it. You don't think you're good enough for him, but open your eyes Miley! Don't you see? Nick likes you for you! Stop being so hard on yourself, okay. If he didn't like you, why do you think he asked you out in the first place? There has to be a reason okay, he saw something in you and he likes you!" She shook me again and I just stared at her.

"Sorry." She let go of my arms. "I didn't—"

"No, it's fine. I needed that, thanks." I sighed.

"Just stop being so hard on yourself, got it?" She asked and I nodded slightly. "How about we grab a carton of ice cream and watch a movie?"

"I'd like that." I said and she gave me a small smile.

**a/n: Okay, so I divided this chapter up into like three parts. Don't ask why, I don't really know either. I'm just trying to add more detail to everything (: Good news, I'm currently typing up Heavily Broken. I guess getting nominated for the NJK Awards helped get me motivated again. Please, if you can vote for me as BEST NEW AUTHOR; SHY for BEST NILEY and BEST STORY; and HEAVILY BROKEN for best cliffhanger :D Review please(:**


	20. Cold Heart Baby

**a/n: REVIEW and ENJOY (:**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything, but the PLOT.**

Shy

**Chapter 20**

_Cold Heart Baby_

I sighed, scooping another spoonful of cookie dough ice cream into my mouth as I watched the characters on the screen. "I know you aren't even watching the movie." Jenn said from beside me.

"Yes, I am. See." I said pointing to my face which was looking at the T.V.

"Tell me what the movie's about." Jenn asked and I looked over at her nervously.

"It's about this girl…"

"Mhm, go on." Jenn said.

"And… this guy and they go rescue someone?" I said.

"Oh my gosh, Miley you weren't watching. We're watching Juno right now." She held up the DVD box for me to see and I sunk further down into my seat.

"It's just hard to watch when I have a lot of things on my mind…" I told her truthfully.

She sighed lightly, "I know. I know. I'm not mad that you didn't pay attention. I just want to know if you're okay. And don't try to bullshit me, okay? I really want to know…" She said.

"Truthfully, I may be hurting a lot." I gulped, "But I'm going to be fine. I'll get over this." I said, looking down at the ice cream carton as I mixed the ice cream around. Jenn stared at me for a while, and then hugged me. "What was that for?" I asked quietly.

"You deserved one." She smiled. "After everything's that happened today, you deserve as many hugs as I can give you." She said and gave me another hug.

"You're a really good friend." I whispered into her ear as I tightened the embrace. "Thank you."

She pulled away and gave me a smile, "No, thank you. I'm really glad I got to meet you when you moved because you truly are one of my best friends and I mean it. You're one of a kind Miley Stewart."

--

My mom walked into the house, a wide smile across on her face. "What's up mom?" I asked when she entered the living room.

"Great news. I got a promotion." Her smile widened and she waited for me to congratulate her. I didn't. Instead, I stared at her in disbelief. "Honey, what's wrong? Why aren't you happy for me?" She asked confused.

"Happy mom? Another promotion means that we're leaving and we haven't even finished unpacking yet!" I yelled.

"Who said we were moving, Miles? I just became Vice President of the company..." She looked at me with even more confusion. "Are you alright baby? You look like you've been crying…" She reached up to touch my face, but I backed away.

"Just a bad day." I answered and picked up my carton of ice cream, throwing it in the trash as I made my way out of the living room. My mom called after me, but I just walked into my room. I closed the door and took a much needed big breath before I dragged my feet toward my closet; I got in and closed the door behind me. I flicked the light switch on and sank down onto the floor, wrapping my arms around my knees.

I didn't want to cry. I didn't want to feel anything at the moment. All I wanted to do was sit there and enjoy the silence. Just listening to my even breathing, I closed my eyes and started to clear my mind. I didn't need this; I needed to move on with this situation. This was just another chapter in my life. It's written and done with.

I heard my bedroom door creak open and my mom call out my name. "Miley, honey, where are you?" She asked and I sighed loudly and opened my eyes, staring at the blank closet door. "Miley?" Her footsteps got closer and I waited for her to open the door. She passed by and I rolled my eyes. My mom wasn't always the best at hide and seek.

I got up and opened the door, making my mom jump in the process. "Why are you in the closet?" She asked and I shrugged and made my way out. I sat down on my bed and looked at her. "What's wrong?" She asked, taking a seat next to me.

I pushed a piece of hair out of my face and shook my head lightly, "Nothing important." I told her.

"Miles look at me." She said and I looked up at her. "You have been crying and I haven't seen you in just sweats since… since you came home from school one day and told me that the guy you liked, Adam didn't feel the same way." She said in a whisper.

I closed my eyes and swallowed the lump in my throat. _Why did she have to remember?_ "Don't be mad at me." I said quietly.

"Honey, I can't get mad at you. Just tell me what's going on." She stroked my hair lightly and I opened my eyes, my eyes already producing tears.

"I... uhm, my boyfriend just broke up with me." I sputtered out as fast as I could.

"What?" She asked in disbelief.

"Please don't make me repeat myself." I said barely audible as the tears cascaded down my face.

"How could you be going through a break up? I wasn't even aware of the relationship. Miley, who was the boy?" She asked.

"It doesn't matter anymore. You're not going to be meeting him anyways." I answered.

"I don't care if I'm not going to meet him or not. I want to know the name of the guy who made you like this, Miles. You must've liked him a lot…"

"We dated for like 2 days, mom. I didn't like him that much." I lied.

"Don't try that with me, Miley. I'm your mother; I know when you're lying and when you aren't. Now, just tell me who this guy was." She said.

"Nick Gray." I mumbled and her eyebrows raised a little.

"Nick Gray as in his father is the owner of the company I work at?" She asked and I shrugged.

"I don't know, maybe?" I sighed and looked down.

"Was there a reason why?" My mom asked.

"Mom, I don't really feel like retelling the story all over again." I lied down on my bed and pulled the covers over my head. "Can you just leave, please mom?" I asked underneath my blanket.

"Feel better. I'll be out in the living room if you need to talk to me, okay?" She said.

"Okay." I said quietly. She lifted the covers up a little and planted a kiss on my forehead.

"Right outside." She repeated.

"I know." I replied and she walked out of the room, I pulled the covers back over my head and just laid there motionless.

--

_2 days later…_

I got up from my seat on the bus and walked down the aisle, ignoring the snickers and whispers behind me. I knew Nick was standing among them since I saw him seated at the back of the bus next to Joe. I had no choice, but to sit in an empty seat in the middle of the bus. I walked off the bus and entered a crowd of people, trying to make my way through and avoid Joe or Nick.

I walked toward the quad and sat down on one of the empty benches. I looked around and watched as the crowds of people walked by me. "Hey you." I looked over at the direction where the voice came from. "You're that Stewart girl?" They asked and nodded obediently.

"Marissa's looking for you." They told me and I nodded, looking back down at my dirtied converses. "Well, aren't you going to go?" They asked and shook my head, sighing lightly. "Tell her I can't make it." I got up and walked away from the group of girls who had a slightly scared looks on their faces.

The bell rang and I started walking towards the locker rooms. From the corner of my eyes, I could feel Nick's gaze burning a hole into my side. I kept my gaze forward and walked into the locker rooms, but not without catching a glimpse of Nick. He looked the same as he always did, except his eyes were sad. Not the usual glint of happiness in them.

Yesterday was hard to get through especially since we sat by each other in history and it was required to work with your partner with every assignment in class. It didn't help either that his sister was my best friend, which meant their groups hung out together, but I wasn't really complaining. It was an easy way for me to just stare at him when he wasn't looking and when he caught me staring at him. I just looked away and tried to get back into the conversation that everyone else was having.

Of course, Marissa overjoyed with what had happened and had been rubbing it in my face every second she could. I ignored her the best I could, but deep inside, my heart was aching even more with her words. I quickly got dressed and waited for Jenn by her locker as I stared off into space sadly.

She finished lacing up her sneakers and stood up, "So, we're getting ready for the dance at my house tonight… and I really want you there." She gave me a small smile.

I gave her a weak smile back and nodded. "I wouldn't miss it." I told her and she hugged me. "That's all the girls been talking about with me. They wanna see you all glammed up." She giggled and I laughed a little.

"I can't wait." I said truthfully. "I had been looking forward to Formal for the past two days and now it was finally here. We would be all dressed up and make-uped in a few hours and I had this strange feeling in the pit of my stomach as we exited the locker-rooms. Jenn already sensed something was up and changed the subject to our English midterm. I nodded and tried my hardest to listen to what she was saying, but my mind just wasn't processing the information that she was telling me.

"Miles?" She asked a minute later and I looked at her. "You alright?"

I nodded and my eyes narrowed as I spotted him standing around with a couple of friends. He was demonstrating something to them because every few seconds, he'd put his hands up and tried to show them something. I stared at him for a moment too long because soon he turned around and we locked eyes. Jenn saw and quickly pulled me away, saying that our Gym teacher was doing role already. I kept my eyes down as I passed by him, but then stopped when Nick called Jenn.

She shot me an apologetic look and walked over to Nick. I stood there awkwardly as I watched them. Nick would look up every few seconds and then look back at Jenn. A few seconds later Jenn came back and we walked over to an empty spot and sat down. "So, what did Nick say?" I asked in a monotone.

"Nothing important." She shrugged and I was suddenly really interested now.

I looked at her, "What did he say?" I asked again.

"It's nothing. He was just telling me about the rides to Formal and stuff." She replied.

"Oh." I said simply and looked back down at my shoes. I was stupid to actually think he'd mention something about me when he was talking to Jenn. "So, your driver's taking us?" I asked.

"No. You're going to be riding with Joe." She told me.

"What?" I asked.

"He told me to tell you this morning, but don't worry. We're all going to be in the car with you. You don't even have to sit in the front with him." She said.

"No, it's okay. He is my date, I'll sit with him." I replied and wrapped my arms around my legs, resting my chin on top. "Hopefully, we'll magically match or something." I said.

"Of course you guys will match. You dress will match everyone." She giggled.

"True." I said matter-of-factly and laughed too.

"Okay." Our gym teacher stood if front of us. "Today's another kicked back day. All we're going to do is a little trust exercise. You know how you see on the T.V. when someone holds out their arms and expect the person in front of them to trust them enough so they can fall into their arms?" She asked and everybody nodded. "Well, today's your guy's lucky day. You get to do that today. Boy girl." She added soon after.

Jenn pushed me forward, "What are you doing?" I asked.

"You're pairing up with Nick. You guys need to talk and I think this is the perfect opportunity." She told me and continued pushing.

"What? No. I can't talk to him and trust him to catch me when I fall back." I told her.

"Why not?" Jenn's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Because. I trusted him to not break my heart and look how that turned out." I said and turned around to see Nick standing there.

**a/n: Review pleeeease?(: I like the really long ones that tell me what they enjoyed most about the chapter :DD**

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**Link is on my page ;D**

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**It's an honor just to be nominated for these..**


	21. Sorry

**a/n: REVIEW and ENJOY (:**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything, but the PLOT.**

Shy

**Chapter 21**

_Sorry_

"Now you owe it to him to give him one more chance. Just do this trust exercise with him. You guys are both killing each other by not talking. I should know." Jenn pushed me a little more forward and my gaze shifted downward as Nick and I met up.

"Hey…" Nick said quietly and I nodded, not wanting to sound stupid when I said something. "Look, Miley, I really didn't want us to be like this—" He got cut off when Miss Saunders began to talk.

"Okay, partners. Right now, the two of you get to decide who is going to fall back first. Please, I repeat please, do not let your partner fall back and you don't catch them. You will be written up and sent to the office. I'm not stupid, I was a teenager once, but it seems like kids these days think when someone else gets hurt that it's funny. Well, it isn't." She told the crowd of students and everyone groaned back in response. "You may begin when you figure out who is going first and what not." She waved her hand around and walked off.

Nick and I just looked at each other, obviously not taking in the directions that Miss Saunders had just given us. A few awkward minutes passed by and we were still in the same positions until I finally piped up.

"I'll go first." I offered quietly. Nick nodded and stepped back, holding his arms in front of him. I sucked in a deep breath and turned around, getting ready to fall back. I closed my eyes, thinking about if I could really trust Nick in catching me. _What if he did drop me?_ At least then, I would know how Nick really felt toward me. I opened my eyes again and saw that Jenn was watching me, signaling for me to fall back already.

I glanced back at Nick and he stared at me, wondering what I was going to do now. I turned back around and closed my eyes, clearing my head of all the emotions that I was feeling and let myself fall back, feeling Nick's arms around me.

A content smile appeared on my face, but I quickly wiped it off of my face and opened my eyes, my blue ones meeting with his brown ones. We stared a moment too long and quickly snapped out of it as Miss Saunders walked by, giving us a thumbs up.

I eased my way out of his arms and blushed. "Are we done?" I asked sheepishly.

"I don't know." He murmured.

I felt my heart start to pound through my P.E. shirt as I nodded, my face flushing even more. I watched as his arm twitched to reach up to my face and touch my face, but he restrained himself. My eyes glided up to his face, studying his features as he was studying mine. I could make out the small bags that under his eyes and I was pretty sure mine looked really pink and puffy.

"N-nick." I tried to get out.

He brought his hand up to my cheek, gently brushing his fingertips along my pink cheek. My heart ached at his touch. I wanted to kiss him so badly. He continued to onto my cheek, his thumb running along it back and forth. I closed my eyes and waited for what he was going to do.

"Do you hate me?" He asked; I could hear the hurt evident in his voice as he dropped his hand and stopped stroking my face. I opened my eyes, looking into his curious ones. "It's okay if you do. I'd hate me too for just breaking up with you like that."

"No, Nick, I don't hate you." I said quietly and I saw him relax a little. "But it hurt. A lot, but I'm trying to get over it. What's done is done. I don't know is there's going to be any going back now."

His face fell a little, "Are you saying that there isn't a chance of us getting together again?"

I shrugged my shoulder lightly. "I don't know, honestly, I don't know how I feel anymore. I just know that it hurt so much, Nick. And I can't bear to go through that again." The bell rang, signaling for us to go in and get dressed. "Can we talk about this some other time?" I walked away before he could open his mouth to respond.

"Miles, you're walking too fast." I heard Jenn say from behind me. I whipped my head around as she caught up to. "So…" She nudged me. "You and Nick good now?" She asked with a smile.

"No, we're worse." I said and watched as her smile fall of her face. "I told him that I don't know if I can get back together with him." She whacked my arm and quickly caressed it with my hand. "And what was that for?!"

"For telling him that! Why would you lie to yourself and him? I _know_ that you still like him. A lot. So, why are you going to continue to hurt yourself and him, Miley?" She asked.

"I don't know." I whispered loudly. "I really don't know what I want at the moment." I walked into the loud locker room. "Just let me think for a while, and then I'll give you my answer." I mumbled.

"Fine, but it better be a darn good reason!" She hissed at me before walking to her locker.

I sighed and leaned my forehead onto the locker. "Life's so complicated." I muttered as I started to spin the dial.

--

Jenn and I walked into history class, feeling extremely quiet after the awkward remark that Kathy had said when we were out at break about Nick and Marissa. I felt like crawling into bed and letting my tears drag me into a deep sleep. Jenn, on the other hand, felt like slapping Kathy for mentioning it at the moment. Everyone tried to comfort me, but I faked a smile and lied that I was okay, but now I had to go into class and sit next to _him._

"Today's gotta be one of the best days ever." I thought sarcastically. I looked at Nick as I sat down, "So, how's Marissa?" I asked in a low tone.

"What are you talking about?" He asked confused.

"Never mind." I sighed and opened up my book, reading the parts that Mr. Arnold was telling us to read, but I couldn't concentrate because I could feel Nick's confused gaze on me.

"Miley, what's going on?" He asked in a whisper when Mr. Arnold started a lecture. I continued to stare at the overhead as Nick continuously tried to get an answer out of me. Soon, his hand was on mine, making my head snap toward his direction. "Talk to me." He murmured.

"I need to keep my distance from you. Maybe then, I'll be okay." I whispered, trying to keep the tears that were stinging my tears in. I stared at Nick, his face contorted in hurt. I didn't mean to break him like that, but he was the one who broke me first. "I'm sorry…" We whimpered at the same time.

"I don't know what people have been telling you, but Marissa and I aren't an item anymore. We never will be. I stopped loving her a long time ago." He said.

"That was what? A week ago?" I contemplated. I didn't mean for it to come out coldly, but it just came out. Nick looked at me, a bit taken back. "What?"

"Are you mad at me or something?" He asked.

_How could he not tell already? _I ignored his question and turned my attention back to the board, mumbling. "I don't know what I feel towards you anymore, Nick. I'm just so confused." I caught a glimpse of his face. He just looked down at his paper and began to take down notes. _How could he be not showing any emotion?_ It was driving me off the edge.

I tried my best to focus my attention on what Mr. Arnold was explaining to us, knowing it would be on an upcoming test, but my eyes kept constantly casting down to Nick's paper. He wasn't jotting down notes, he was writing something else, but I looked away before he could notice that I was peeking at what he was writing.

The rest of the class time was crucially quiet as Nick and I did our work in silence. Every few minutes, he would pull out the piece of paper from earlier and scribble down a few more sentences before placing it back in his backpack whenever he sensed that Mr. Arnold was coming our way.

Curiosity on what could've been written on the paper was killing me slowly on the inside. I wanted so badly to just ask him about it, but couldn't. I had to keep my distance from him until I could figure out my thoughts, but this damn piece of paper was making me go crazy. The bell needed to ring and it needed to ring in the next minute before something happened. I watched the clock, the seconds hand ticking slowly past the numbers. _Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock._

The bell rings and I spring out of my seat a little too loudly, making everyone turn their attention to me. I ignore them and I dump my things into my backpack, swiftly throwing it over my shoulder and walking out the door, not bothering to look over at Nick, who was still writing on that dreaded piece of paper.

"Where's the fire?" Jenn asked when she exited out of the room. "It was like you timed when the bell rang or something."

"I just needed to get out of there." I mumbled. "We better get to class before the bell rings." I brushed past people down the hall.

His voice started to run through my mind continuously as I tried so hard to block it out. Too caught up in my thoughts, I didn't notice that I had run into someone along the way. "Sorry." I whispered, not bothering to look at who it was. Then, I smelled that familiar scent, _his scent._

How in the world had he walked so fast to be right in front of me?

**a/n: Reviews? Writer's block again. This chapter was so not how I wanted it to be. I suck ): Slap me Cleo.. haha.**


	22. Here We Go Again

**a/n: REVIEW and ENJOY (: Reeeead author's note at the bottom**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything, but the PLOT.**

Shy

**Chapter 22**

_Here We Go Again_

"Uhm, you okay?" That wasn't Nick's voice; I looked up and saw Joe standing there, a puzzled expression on his face. "Miley?" He asked again. "Are you alright?"

"Oh, sorry. I thought you were someone else." I mumbled and walked passed him and toward my Algebra II class. _Of course it wasn't Nick. _I told myself, how could it have been Nick? He was probably still sitting in class. I walked into the classroom and saw that I was the first one there. Miss Lopez hadn't even arrived yet. I sighed and took a seat in the back and waited for people to come into the room.

A few seconds later, Jenn came walking in along with a few others. "Someone sure loves math all of a sudden." Jenn laughed as she took a seat next to me.

"Don't hit me…" I told her.

She stopped laughing, "Miley, what did you do?"

"I kind of told Nick that we needed to keep our distance from each other. I-I just think that I need to get over him, Jenn." I flinched, waiting for her to do something, but she didn't.

"I'm not going to hit you." She rolled her eyes. "I just don't get why you're being this way, Miley. I mean clearly, there's something there between the two of you. You shouldn't believe the lies that people are spreading around about Nick. They're untrue." She told me

"How do you know?" I asked in an icy tone.

"Because the person who's probably spreading them is Marissa herself." She shot back. "Geez, someone needs an attitude check or something." She muttered, turning to face the board.

"Look, I'm sorry. I'm just frustrated with everything that's been going on. I'm mad at myself and mad at the people telling me lies. I'm just mad, okay." I set my head down on the desk, wrapping my arms around myself as I heard the tardy bell rang, not caring if I got in trouble or not. I stared at the wooden desk under me, tears stinging at my eyes, but I held them back, feeling stupid if I started to cry in my math class

"And I'm not trying to add onto you getting madder. If you want some breathing space, I'll give you some and tell everyone else. Happy?" She asked, but I didn't lift my head up to respond.

Time seemed to have flown by, soon I felt someone shaking me roughly on the shoulder. I lifted my head up abruptly and looked around, trying to take in where I was. "What?" I asked groggily and not noticing where I was.

"The bell rang. We're going to be late." Jenn shifted from her left leg to her right as I looked around and saw the room starting to empty. "You know how Miss George gets when people are late. We need to get a move on." She started toward the door.

I shuffled quickly to my feet, swinging my backpack over my shoulder and walking to the door. Jenn decided not to wait for me; I sighed and started toward the other side of the campus, swiftly pulling my cell phone out. I scrolled down my contacts and stopped at my mom's number. I brought the phone to my ear and prayed that she would pick up for me.

"Hello?" My mom asked in a tired tone.

"Mom, do you think you can come pick me up?" I asked quietly, squeezing through the crowds of people, trying not to be late to class.

"Why hon? Are you feeling sick?" She asked; I could hear her typing away with one hand on her computer as the other was holding the phone that she was not speaking on.

"No, but—" I sighed. "Never mind. Uhm, can I go over to Jenn's house after school? We're going to get ready for the Formal."

"Of course. Curfew is the same though. I want you home by 11." She told me.

"Okay, bye mom and sorry for bothering you" I mumbled.

"Bye sweetheart." She hung up and I heard the tardy bell rang.

"Crap..." I muttered as I slipped my phone back into my pocket and started power walking towards my classroom. I walked in and saw that the class was in the middle of reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. I walked quietly towards my desk beside Jenn, hoping that Miss George didn't notice that I was late, but her eyes turned to look at me as I reached my seat. I closed my eyes and cursed myself silently.

"You're late Miss Cyrus?" She asked, her eyebrow curving upward as the class took their seats, everyone's eyes shifting to look at me. "Do you have a pass?" She asked as she took a seat.

"No." I shook my head lightly and she sighed, taking out a tardy form. She stood up and walked over to my desk, pointing to a dotted line at the bottom of the page. "Don't make it a habit, Miss Cyrus." She told me as I signed my name on the piece of paper. "Five more of these and it results in you failing out of the class for the whole semester."

I nodded obediently as she walked back over to her desk. I sighed and took out my journal, glancing over at Jenn. Her hair was draped over her shoulder, making it so that I couldn't see her face as she scribbled away to the journal prompt on the board. I looked at the board and read over the paragraph slowly. _Tell me about your weekend plans._ It read.

I tapped my pencil impatiently on my desk, the sound echoing through the quiet classroom as I thought about what I was going to write. Jenn looked over at me, clearly annoyed with what I was doing. I slowly stopped tapping my pencil and started writing, only ending up with a third of the page when Miss George told us the next instructions that we had to do.

Jenn rolled her eyes at me after we had finished our partner assignment that we had to do. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat and played with the book that was in my hands. "Is it okay if I still come over today?" I looked over at her wonderingly.

She shrugged, "If you want to."

"Oh okay." I looked back over at my paper.

**ShyShyShyShyShy**

The last bell of the day rang and I got up from my seat, waving a goodbye to Adrian, who surprisingly talked to me after I had ignored him for the past two days before.

"Hey wait." He called out and I turned back to look at him. "Are you going to Formal tonight?" He asked.

"Yeah, I am. Are you?" I asked curiously.

"Nah. I'm not into those types of things." He told me with a shrug.

"Yeah, but you should still go. Hang out with friends and stuff." I replied.

He shrugged again, "I don't know. I think it's too late to get tickets anyways." He grabbed his backpack and soon he was walking next to me. We exited the door and I turned to him.

"I heard you can still be able to buy tickets at the door when you arrive at the Gym." I told him. "You have to go."

"I _have _to go?" He asked and I nodded.

"Yeah, please. I promise I'll dance with you." I looked over at him again and smiled.

"Will you now?" He chuckled and I nodded again.

"Of course, but you have to promise that you'll go." I said, pointing out my pinky.

"You're joking right?" Adrian looked at me, an amused smile playing on his lips. I pulled my hand down, embarrassed and giggled nervously. "I promise I'll go." He told me and gave me an one arm hug. "But only because I _had _to go." He joked.

I blushed, "Okay. See you there." I waved goodbye to him again and walked toward the bus and felt someone looking at me. I looked over my shoulder alertly and saw Nick standing there, something in his hand, his gaze downward as if he knew that I would turn around. I looked away quickly and saw Jenn walking toward the bus, so I caught up to her quickly.

"You didn't change your mind?" She asked as we went onto the bus.

"Change my mind for what?" I asked confused as we walked down the aisle of the bus, trying to find a seat as it started to fill up quickly with students, excitedly talking about the Formal tonight.

"Yeah, you're actually coming to my house." She said as she sat down in an empty seat, scooting over to make room for me.

I sat down next to her, placing my backpack in my lap. "Oh, you didn't want me to come over?" I asked.

"No, no. I just thought you would've changed your mind and bailed out on coming over to get ready with the rest of us." She shrugged.

"Truthfully, I was going to, but my mom sounded like she didn't have any time to pick me up." I told her as I played with the straps of my backpack.

"Mhm, nice to know." She said, shifting her eyes over towards the window.

"That didn't come out the way that I thought it would." I told her quietly.

"Whatever." She sighed softly.

"Jenn, I'm sorry." I said and she turned to me.

"You have nothing to be sorry for." She told me. "So, there's no need to apologize to me." She said.

"Yeah, I do. I was being a total grouch today and I took it out on you and I really didn't mean to. I'm sorry for acting like that." I sighed. "Can you ever forgive me?"

She stared at me; the corners of her mouth twitched into a small smile and she nodded. "Of course I forgive you, Mi. I wasn't even that mad at you anyways. It surprises me that you're even apologizing because you didn't have to." She smiled, opening up her arms.

I hugged her softly, "So, you had me acting like a worried wreck and you didn't do anything?" I gasped jokingly and we both giggled.

"Hey, it's fun to toy with people's emotions." She joked along.

"I really thought you were mad at me with the way you didn't wait for me. How you kept rolling your eyes and ignoring me at lunch." I said.

"Oh, I guess I sort of got annoyed with everything and everybody." She shrugged. "It's just how I act; I guess when one thing annoys me, it starts a domino effect." She said with a soft sigh. "It's one of my bad habits. It's why Meg and I haven't solved our little argument. It was a stupid fight too. She was hiding something from me and I wouldn't let it go that she wouldn't tell me and now we aren't even speaking with each other. I miss talking to her."

I shot her an apologetic smile, "You want to know something?" I asked and she nodded. "She really misses you as a friend too."

"Really?" Jenn asked, perking up a little.

"Yeah and I bet that if you apologize to her. You guys will be able to talk things out and then you two will be able to become friends again. I'm sure she's ready to tell you the whole story of what's happening in her home life and if she isn't, I'm sure she'll be ready to tell you soon. You just need to wait a little." I smiled, nudging her lightly. "Patience is the key."

"Do you think she would answer if I texted her?" Jenn asked, pulling out her cell phone.

"Uhm, maybe calling her would be better." I suggested.

"You're right." Jenn dialed her number and brought the phone to her ear. She looked over at me with a small grin, "Thanks Miles."

"You're welcome." I smiled back.

The bus finally started up and we began to depart off of school grounds. I smiled a little to myself, getting myself ready for the dance that was in a few hours. Yes, Nick and I weren't on speaking terms, but I guess I should blame myself for what I said in class, but I was looking forward to having a good time with all my friends. I kind of regretted my mood swings today that I had given everyone from Jenn to Nick to Adrian. I sent a mix of emotions towards everyone. I shook the thought out of my head as I saw the bus stop at the curb by Jenn's house.

I looked over at her; she was still chatting away on the phone, not noticing that it was time to get off. "Jenn." I said, motioning towards the houses out the window. She nodded and grabbed her bag, but still continued to talk freely into her cell phone.

"You go ahead. I'll be right there." She told me and continued to talk. I nodded and put my backpack over my shoulders and got up, saying a thank you to the bus driver before getting off of the bus. I waited by the door, but didn't see Jenn come off so I decided to start walking to her house.

I heard footsteps behind me, thinking it was Jenn. I waited for her to walk besides me. The footsteps stop, causing me to look back to see why Jenn had stopped walking. To my surprise, it was Nick, not Jenn. "Oh, hi." I said awkwardly.

"I know you don't want to talk to me, but can I just give you something?" Nick asked and I nodded. He opened his small backpack pocket, taking out a folded up piece of paper. I waited patiently and curiously at what he was going to give me. "Uhm, can we continue walking?" He asked and I nodded again as we started walking away.

Nick played with the piece of paper in his hands and hesitated to give it to me. "Nick, about earlier…" I eyed the paper in his hands as he stopped himself from giving me the paper; stuffing it in his front pocket.

"Yeah?" He asked.

"Uhm, I didn't mean to sound mean or anything, if it came off like that. I'm sorry. I was just confused with how I was feeling and all." I said quietly. "I hope that doesn't change how you feel about going to the Formal and stuff. I don't want to ruin your night or anything." I looked up at him.

I wish I hadn't. His eyes were soft, like the small smile that was upon his lips. I just stood there, lost in his brown eyes. I did my best to look away, but couldn't find the strength to do so. I tried my best to say something, but my mouth dried and my mind went blank as we just stood there, looking at each other.

"You wouldn't be running my night." He said, breaking my trance.

"O-okay." I stammered, finally looking down. "That's good." I said softly.

"We should continue walking." He said and I nodded, following his lead. "So, uh, I saw you talking to Adrian today in Spanish." His voice sounded a bit cold, but he probably didn't mean for it to come out like that.

I looked up at him, his eyes still forward. "Uhm, yeah. I convinced him to go to formal. I think it was the idea of me promising him a dance is what got him to agree to go. I'm kind of glad he's going though." I said and I saw Nick's hand flex into a fist, but he immediately let it go, hoping that I hadn't noticed, but I did.

"A-are you okay?" I asked and he looked at me.

"Yeah, yeah." He shook his head, shaking away a thought. "I was just curious." He said in a quiet tone.

"Oh okay." I scratched my arm nervously.

"We should all hang out after the dance or something. I'm pretty sure Jenn's going to want everyone to sleep over or something." He shrugged. He always had a habit of using Jenn as the person that wanted something when he was the one.

"Probably." I nodded. "But I don't know if my mom will let me. My curfew's at 11." I sighed. "And I think that's when the dance ends. I can ask, but I'll probably talk to Jenn and the others about it and see for sure."

"Yeah, of course." Nick said, scratching the back of his neck lightly. "I wouldn't want you to get in trouble because I—Jenn wanted you to stay over." He quickly corrected himself.

Before I knew it, we were standing at the doorstep of his house. "I wonder where Jenn is." I said quietly, looking over my shoulder casually, trying to hide the nerves bubbling in my stomach.

"She's probably still walking and talking on the phone." Nick said as he pushed the front door open. "Make yourself at home." He told me as we walked through the living room and into the kitchen.

"Thanks." I mumbled, taking a seat on a stool in the kitchen. I watched as Nick set his backpack onto the counter, pulling out a can of whipped cream and a bowl. I watched curiously as he pulled out a carton of ice cream from the refrigerator.

His eyes looked over at me, "Do you want some?" He asked.

"What are you making?" I asked, getting up from my seat.

"Ice cream sundae." He told me, opening up the carton of ice cream.

"Do you need any help?" I offered.

"Sure." He said casually, handing me a bowl. "We have other ice cream or is vanilla okay?" He asked me.

"Vanilla's fine." I said. He scooped two big spoonfuls into a glass bowl, gently pushing it to where I was, making sure that his hand didn't touch mine. I grabbed it, a bit confused as he handed me sprinkles, almonds, the can of whipped cream, hot fudge, and candied cherries. He looked at me as I eyed the stuff he had just handed me.

"You don't put stuff on your ice cream?" He asked and I shook my head.

"I usually just eat my ice cream plain." I answered.

"Yeah, but this is an ice cream sundae. Put whatever you want on it." He chuckled as he continued to scoop ice cream into his own bowl.

After we both finished decorating our ice cream; I took my bowl and sat down at the counter again. Nick pulled out the stool and sat down next to me. We sat there quietly, our spoons scraping loudly around the bowls. I brought the last spoonful of ice cream to my mouth, savoring the last of the ice cream.

"Do you want more?" Nick asked and I shook my head. "Here, let me." He took the bowl out of my hands as I was about to get up, his fingers brushing against mine gently. I tried to push away the small tingle that was going through my hand as I looked up at him.

"Thanks." I said as I heard the front door open. Jenn walked in, a satisfied smile on her lips. "Someone's happy." I smiled. "Are you and Meg good now?" I asked.

"Yup, better than ever. She's coming over later to get ready with us and the others." Jenn said, walking over to me, pulling me into a tight hug. "Thank you." She said.

"No problem. I'm just glad you guys aren't mad at each other anymore. It felt weird talking to the both of you separately." I giggled as we let go.

Jenn looked from me to Nick, then back to me. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry." She whispered quietly. "I didn't mean to leave you alone here with Nick." She shot me an apologetic look.

"Oh, it's okay. We got less awkward, I think." I smiled a little.

"You have something right there." She motioned to the side of my mouth.

"I do?" I grabbed a napkin and brought it to the corner of my lips.

"There, you got it." She said as I threw the napkin into the trash bin. Jenn sat down in the spot that Nick was recently in. "I think everyone's coming over in like 2 hours, what do you want to do until everyone heads over?" She asked.

"Oh, I don't know. Watch a movie or something?" I suggested.

"Ehh. Boring. Oh, I know. I need to practice doing professional nails. Do you think I can practice on you?" Jenn asked and I heard Nick cough, I looked over at him and saw him shake his head no. I looked back at Jenn, who was now glaring over at Nick.

"What?" Nick smiled innocently, absentmindedly making me melt in my seat. "Don't you remember how you did with Yanny's nails? She had so much trouble trying to pick things up, without knocking them over first." His smile turned into a sly grin, making me giggle softly.

"For your information, that wasn't me who did her nails. That was Kathy." Jenn pulled me out of my seat. "I didn't ask for your opinion, Nick." She pulled me past him and up to her room.

"I've never really had my nails done before." I told her as we walked into her room. I sat down on her made bed as she pulled out a box from the bathroom.

"Well, it'll feel funny having it on for the first time, but you'll get used to it and don't listen to Nick. I may not be the best, but I'm improving with every person that I do the nails on, so you have nothing to worry about." Jenn said as she dumped the contents of the box onto the bed.

"Oh, this one looks nice." I said as I picked up one of the designs.

"Ooh, that would look cute and it goes with your dress." Jenn said as she took the designs out of my hands.

"Dress. I didn't bring my dress." I said.

"I'll ask Joe if he can bring you home to get it once he comes home, but in the meantime, we should get a head start on your nails." She said as she set up the needed materials. "Let me start with your right hand…" She grabbed hold of my hand. "Oh wait, here." She handed me the latest issue of Teen Vogue.

"What is this for?" I asked as I took it.

"Oh, you'll get bored." Jenn laughed. "Trust me, you'll need that magazine." She told me and I nodded, using my left hand to flip open to the first page as Jenn started her work.

Half an hour later, Jenn concentrated on the index finger of my right hand as I flipped the page carefully with my right hand, making sure I didn't mess up any of the nails that Jenn had worked so hard on. "Thanks." I told her and she looked over at me.

"For what?" She asked, dipping the nail polish brush back into the polish before bringing it back over to my middle finger.

"For doing this and helping me get ready for the formal." I said.

"Oh, it's no problem. I always like doing these kinds of things. I'm just weird like that." She laughed and continued to put the clear polish onto my newly applied fake nails.

"You should apply for this job by the mall. I heard that they're hiring." I said, looking up from the article that I was reading.

"I'd love to, but I can't." She told me as she blew on my fingers, drying up the polish quickly.

"Why not?" I asked.

"Because it's by the mall. Which means people from our school would see me there and I don't know what would happened if Marissa spread more shit around the school about me. I'm just tired of her and I don't need more crap." Jenn sighed.

"Well, don't care what other people think then." I said and she looked at me. "I know, it's hard and all, but I mean you're really good at these kinds of things." I said, holding up my hand. "And I heard from someone that next year we might be taking a class trip to France or something and we need to start earning some money. I know that might not be a problem for you, since your dad might pay for it…" I rambled on.

"You're right." Jenn said and I looked at her, surprised.

"I am?" I asked.

"Yeah, I mean I can't live off my dad's money forever and I shouldn't care what other people think, but I'll apply for the job on one condition." She said.

"And what's that?" I said, looking down at my nails.

"I'll apply if you apply along with me." She said and I looked up at her.

"You're kidding right?" I asked and she shook her head, smiling.

"It'd be fun working side by side with my best friend." She said.

"Yeah, but I don't know how to do any of this." I said, referring to everything that was on her bed. "I'd probably screw up the poor lady's nails or face or something." I said, making her laugh.

"You can't be that bad and you could work the register or something." Jenn suggested and I agreed.

"Okay, I'll apply with you, but if they fire me, then you're on your own." I laughed

"It's the thought that counts." Jenn laughed and pushed me gently. "But I think you'll do fine. Now, let me see those nails." She said, putting her hands out.

I placed my hands in hers. "I think you did great on them." I smiled, admiring her artwork. "They look beautiful."

"Awh, thanks." She smiled. "Now, I get to rub this in Nick's face. Ha!" We laughed. "Let me go check if Joe's home so we can go pick up that gorgeous dress of yours." She jumped up from her seat and sprinted towards the door. I laughed and sat back onto her headboard. Today was beginning to light up.

Jenn walked back into the room a few minutes later, "Joe's not home yet." She said a little disappointed. "And everyone's coming here in another half hour or something." She sighed.

"It's okay; we can always get it later." I said.

"Yeah, but we still need to do everyone's hair and make up and everything. There's like 5 of us. Time is limited, Mi." She sat down next to me.

"Don't you have your permit?" I asked and she shook her head sadly, but suddenly perked up again. "What?" I asked.

"I don't have my permit, but Nick does." She stood up again. "I'll ask if he can drive you to your house." She said. "If that's okay with you…"

"Of course, yeah." I nodded as she walked out of the room, coming back in a few seconds later. "That was fast, what did he say?" I asked, standing up.

"He said yes." She told me, smiling. "So, go." She laughed and started pulling me out the door.

"You're coming too, right?" I asked as we started walking down the stairs.

"I wish I could, but someone has to stay here and open the door for everyone when they come. It's 5 minutes, you'll survive." She told me as I walked out the front door, hearing it slam behind me. "She had this planned out." I mumbled to myself as I saw Nick pull out of the garage. I walked over the to the passenger side and slipped in, "Nice car." I told him as I slipped my seatbelt into the buckle.

"Thanks." He said as he pulled out of the driveway, speeding out of the neighborhood smoothly. "Your house is just a few blocks away?" He asked and I nodded as the music from the radio blared inside the car. I played with the new nails, my fingers gliding over the clear design. "Jenn did those?" Nick asked and I looked at him.

"Uh, yeah. She did a great job." I said and he nodded.

"I guess she proved me wrong." A smirk appeared on his lips and I looked away, fighting away the feeling.

"I guess she did." A small grin formed on my lips as Nick turned into my neighborhood.

"You better tell me if I pass your house, they all look the same to me." He chuckled.

"Uhm, right there." I pointed to the house that he was about to pass. He swerved into the driveway, the two of us jolting forward a little.

"Sorry. I shouldn't have done that." He looked over at me to see if I was okay.

"I'm fine. No bruises or anything." I reported and he continued to look over at me worriedly as I unstrapped my seatbelt. "Do you want to come in?" I ignored his stares.

"I'll wait for you out here." He answered.

"Are you sure? You can come in if you want to. It's no problem." I told him, waiting as he took off his seatbelt. I smiled to myself and opened the door, walking to the front door. I picked up the ceramic turtle and grabbed the key out of it.

"You hide the key outside?" Nick asked and I nodded. "Isn't that kind of dangerous?" He asked.

"I told my mom that, but she refuses to listen to me." I said as I tried to stick the key into the lock, but failed as it continued to slip through my fingertips.

"Here, I can do it." Nick said as he grabbed the key from me, sticking it into the lock.

"Thanks." I said sheepishly as he opened the door. I slipped off my shoes. "Make yourself at home. I'll be just a minute." I said and I rushed to my room. I looked around my cluttered room, trying to spot the pale pink bag. "Where is it?" I asked myself as I started to pick through everything that was scattered around the room.

"Do you need some help?" I heard Nick ask from the door, causing me to jump.

"You scared me." I gasped as I tried to get my heartbeat back to normal.

"Sorry, uhm, you were just gone for a while, so I thought you needed some help or something." He scratched the back of his neck again and I nodded.

"Uhm, excuse the mess." I said as I threw my clothes into the hamper in the corner of the room, trying to tidy up a little. Now, I understood why mom had said I'd be embarrassed if someone saw my room like this. "Look for a pale pink bag." I told him.

"You mean this one?" He said as he walked over to my bed and grabbed a pale pink bag off the top of my bed.

"So, that's where I put it." I murmured as I grabbed the bag out of his hands. "Thanks." I said. "We should go now." I said, my hand on the door.

Nick walked over to the door and closed it softly. I looked over at him confused, "I need to tell you something." He said.

"Oh okay. Why didn't you tell me when I was at your house?" I asked, taking a seat on my computer chair.

"It felt weird with Jenn around." He grabbed my hands, pulling me to my feet again.

"Oh, okay. What is it?" I asked, trying to not look down at our hands. I caught sight of the note that was peeking out of his front pocket. I stared at it for a few seconds, then looked back up to his face. "Nick?"

"If I told you something, would it make you less confused with how you were feeling?" He asked quietly.

"I-I don't know, maybe?" I said unsure. "What are you going to tell me?" I asked, not sure if I should be afraid of what he was going to tell me.

"I still like you." He took in a big breath. "A lot. I tried to get you out of my mind today in class when you told me that you needed space and all, but honestly, I can't. I tried everything. I even kind of wrote you a letter, telling you how I feel and stuff." He said sheepishly, pulling out the paper from his pocket. "But I decided it would mean more if I told you face to face because words don't mean anything unless you're telling the person in person." He said as he stuck the note back into his jeans, grabbing my hand that he had let go for a brief second.

"Nick, I…"

"I'm not done yet." I nodded and waited for him to continue. "It's like you were meant to be in my thoughts or something. I know it sounds corny, but I just felt really different today." He told me, squeezing my hands tightly; a serge of tingles running through them. "And when I saw you talking to Adrian today in class. I just got really mad because it seemed like you liked him and I don't know." He sighed and looked down.

I don't like him, Nick. I-I was just trying to convince him to go to the dance, that's all." I told him.

"Yeah, but it might not have seemed like that to him." He said and I looked at him, confused.

"How do you know? What are you talking about?" I asked.

"I don't, but I know he likes you." Nick said.

"He does?" I asked, surprised.

"Yeah." Nick mumbled sadly. "You're all he seems to talk about when we're in English. I never really talked about you that much…"

"Nick, are you okay?" I asked.

He shrugged, "I don't know." He muttered.

"Because it seems like you're jealous or something." I said with a light shrug.

He looked up at me, "I'm not jealous." He replied.

"Then, why do you care if he likes you or not?" I asked, hoping to make my point.

"Because I still like you a lot and I hate it when other guys hit on you and.. and just never mind." He mumbled.

"Nick, that's jealousy." I said and he continued to stare down at our hands, not saying a word as he shrugged again. "It's okay to feel that way, you know." I said softly.

"I just hate feeling that way because no matter how much I like you; you want your space, so I can't do anything about what the other guys feel." He mumbled again. "I just like you a lot and it doesn't feel right when you don't feel the same way back." He said sadly.

"Nick…" I said softly and he looked up at me, his eyes were sad. I let go of his hands and his eyes looked downward again, disappointed.

"S-sorry, I shouldn't have been holding them. We should probably go." He said softly, turning to walk away.

I grabbed his hand lightly and he turned back to look at me. "I should be the one saying sorry, Nick." I told him. "Because the truth is that I still like you a lot too and I can't stop fighting away those butterflies that I feel every time your hands touch mine or whenever I see your smile. I mean right now, I'm feeling weak to my knees and it's all because of you." I whispered. "It's just how you make me feel and the truth is, no matter who likes me, it wouldn't matter because I only like one person and that one person is you."

**a/n: Jenny here (: Wondering where Katy is? She left a note on my channel.. check it out. Other than that, hey guys ;D Sorry it took so long for an update, I was confused on what to do since I just started to write for this story and Katy wasn't much help since she had writer's block, but I woke up with ideas lol. I bet this chapter is making you all excited for the Formal one? Well, it's coming up VERY soon. Who got all smiley at the end? I did when I was writing it.(: I just felt all happy when Nick admitted his jealousy and I don't really know why, haha. Review please :D maybe we can make it to 500 reviews? :o that would be so amazing, even though that's so far away... Hate it? Like it? Love it? What was your favorite part? What are you looking forward to? Feedback on the characters? Thanks ;D Wow, long author's note. Haha.**

**I don't know if you can still vote, but if you can let's keep voting for KATY :D**

SHY; best story and best Niley  
Heavily Broken; best cliffhanger

**BEST NEW AUTHOR; iluvjb4ever123**


	23. Falling Over Me

**a/n: Review.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything, but the PLOT.**

Shy

**Chapter 23**

_Falling Over Me_

A small smile appeared on his face as a quiet 'really?' escaped from his lips. I nodded, "I just want things to go back to how they were before what had happened with Marissa that day at the mall, Nick." I said softly.

"I want the same." He inched closer to me and I stared at my own hand, still firmly around his hand. "Can we forget about that break I asked for?" He asked softly.

I nodded again and felt as my cheeks flushed pink as he continued to get closer and closer to me. Soon, our bodies were pressed close together, my hands around his neck loosely as one of his hands were on the small of my back and the other tangled lightly in my hair. I stared up at him, my cheeks getting pinker and pinker by the second as he stared down at me with intensity.

Nick pulled my face in closer and lightly swept his lips over mine, kissing my slowly. I felt my heart skip a beat as I pulled away, the two of us just standing there, listening to each other's heart beat on momentarily.

I stared up at him again and smiled. "I missed that." I closed my eyes, leaning my forehead slightly on his.

"So, did I." He smiled back at me before he dropped his hands from being around me and I dropped my hands from his neck as well and looked at him confused. He chuckled lightly and grabbed my hand, interlacing our fingers lightly. "Jenn is probably going to think I did something to you. We should go back."

"Oh." My cheeks reddened again and I grabbed the bag from where I dropped it on the floor. "Let's go." I looked around to make sure I didn't forget anything else that I needed.

"Can I see how your dress looks?" He asked as he tried to look into the bag when we walked into the hallway.

"No." I smirked and held it behind my back as we continued to walk and got into the living room. "I want it to be a surprise."

"Oh, fine." Nick sighed playfully and pulled my closer to his side, wrapping his arm around my waist. "I guess I can wait another hour or so." He mumbled.

I slid my converses back on, not caring if they were laced up or not and opened the door, carefully trying not to trip over the door. I stepped foot out of my house, quickly getting blinded by the setting sun. I squinted a little, but enjoyed how beautiful the sky looked before me. "Awh, I should've brought my camera." I said and looked over my shoulder at the white door that Nick had just locked. "Oh, well."

"Why?" Nick asked as he watched me stare at the sky.

"Because this would be a great Kodak moment." I smiled. "The sky always seems to look amazingly beautiful to me. All the different colors painted up there; going from orange to purple to pink." I beamed.

He let go of my hand; I noticed, but continued to gaze at the sight in front of me and saw a bright flash from beside me. I turned to see Nick smiling at me while holding a Sony Canon camera in his hands. "Where did that come from?" I laughed as he flashed another picture. I made a face and closed my eyes, "I wasn't ready." I whined.

He chuckled, "I just so happened to have my camera in my pocket. I guess it came in handy. Are you ready now?" He asked and I opened one eye.

"I don't like taking pictures though." I told him as I turned around again, trying to get away from the camera. "Nick." I huffed.

"Come on. I bet you're really photogenic. Turn around, Mi." He said as he tried to get the camera in my face.

I just stood there and pouted as I felt another flash go off. I opened my eyes, glaring over at Nick, "Can I see the camera?" I asked sweetly.

"Why do you want it?" Nick asked arching his eyebrow a little.

"Oh, no reason. I just want to see how the pictures you took came out." I said, trying to grab the camera out of his hands.

"They look beautiful. You look beautiful." He said, kissing me lightly on the nose while he held the camera behind his back, out of my reach. "And you only want it so you can delete the pictures." He took a step back.

"No..." I droned the word out and took a step toward him. "Where did you get that idea?" I leapt forward a little, trying to grab it out of his hands.

"Hmm, I don't know. It was just a guess." He chuckled as he took a step to the left. "I'll let you see them after Formal, deal?" He asked and I sighed.

"Fine, it's a deal." I mumbled and looked down.

"Miles, what's wrong?" Nick asked in a concerned tone as he walked closer to where I was.

"Nothing." I shrugged my shoulders and looked up at him, a hint of a pout playing on my lips.

"Ah, I see what you're doing. I'm not falling for that." Nick smirked as he went back over to his car.

"Ugh, fine." I said, defeated and walked over to the passenger side. "You win." I told him and got in the car.

"Why do you want to delete them so badly?" He asked when he put the key into the ignition, starting up his car; he looked over at me.

I shrugged again, my gaze forward. "I don't know, I just hating looking at pictures of myself. I'm ugly and I don't want you to look at those pictures of my being ugly." I looked over at him when I heard him start laughing. "What?" I asked, confused.

"I just find it really funny that you think you're ugly." He let out another chuckle before finally stopping. "Miles, you are from being ugly. You're beautiful and I'm going to keep reminding you about that until you get it through your head." He poked my forehead, making me give him a look.

Nick then leaned in a planted a small kiss on my forehead, making me blush almost immediately. He turned back to face forward and eased out of my driveway. I just watched him as he drove past all the houses in the neighborhood. "You're beautiful." I murmured in a soft whisper, hoping he didn't hear me, but I knew he did when a small smile twitched onto his lips. I flushed and turned to look out the window.

In a matter of minutes, Nick's mustang was parked in his driveway. I felt a slight vibration and the outburst of music coming from Jenn's room upstairs. I quickly exited the car and waited by the door as Nick unlocked it, letting the two of us in.

"I guess I'll see you when you're ready." Nick smiled.

"Two hours is so long." I sighed and he chuckled, kissing me softly on the cheek.

"But you'll have fun. Go on." He said, giving me a slight push towards the stairs.

"Hey, you go up too." I laughed. "Why don't you walk me up?" I asked.

"Because if I do, I'm going to want to kiss you after we're in front of Jenn's door and knowing her, she'd have her bedroom door open where everyone would see and once I kiss you and you enter her room. You'll be attacked with so many questions that you'll be too flushed to answer." He told me.

"Am I really that predictable?" I mumbled and Nick nodded. "Fine, see you in two hours." I said, but before I could go Nick had pulled me back into his arms.

"I said I would want to kiss you and just because I can't walk you upstairs doesn't mean I won't kiss you." He smiled, leaning down to meet my lips.

"Oh my god! Nick and Miley are back together!" Someone screamed from upstairs, making both me and Nick pull away from the kiss quickly to see who the one that had shrieked.

"Yeah, you should go on up there now." Nick chuckled, letting me go.

"Thanks." I mumbled and trotted up the stairs quickly and into Jenn's room.

"You and Nick are back together?" Jenn squealed and held onto my hands as she jumped up and down, making me laugh and jump as well. "Well?!" She asked excitedly. I nodded again and soon there was a round of loud squeals throughout the room. I laughed as Jenn let go of me. "Come on, details." She said.

"Maybe tonight if we have a sleepover." I suggested.

"Ooh, a sleepover is a good idea." Angie said. "We should definitely have one, so Miley here will tell us the whole story." She nudged me, causing me to blush.

"Who would be able to come?" Jenn asked as all the girls hands shot up in the air. She laughed, "Okay, we're having a sleepover, but let's worry about the Formal right now. We have less than two hours to get everyone's make-up and hair down."

"Well, there are only 7 of us. It shouldn't take that long right?" I heard Meg ask from the beanbag chair she was sitting in.

"Meg! I didn't see you there." I smiled and walked over to her, planting myself on the carpet beside her.

She laughed, "Yeah, I got here like 15 minutes ago and all they've done is show each other their dresses." She nodded over to where Kathy and Yanny were, the duo pointing at each other's dresses and giggling, probably talking about how beautiful they looked. "Guys, no one has answered my question." Meg said loudly.

"Well, I guess it depends on how much that person needs. Like for example, Miley has a lot of hair, it's going to take a while to curl." Jenn said as I held a piece of my hair.

"I have a lot of hair?" I turned to Meg.

"Well, if Jenn says you do, then you do." She laughed.

"Who wants to go first?" Jenn asked, standing atop of her bed, so that she could be heard over the blaring music.

"Me!" Kathy's hand shot up, but Angie and Yanny's did as well. Meg and I just sat there as we watched the girls arguing over who could go first.

"Now, I see what Jenn means…" Meg said and I laughed. "Hey, I haven't seen your dress, Miles. Is it in the bag you're holding?" She asked.

"Oh yeah." I set the bag onto the floor and pulled out my dress.

"Oh my gosh, it looks so beautiful." Meg gasped. "Can I hold it?" I handed the dress to her and she admired it. "Wow, Nick's going to melt when he sees you in this." She handed it back to my and I blushed.

"I doubt it." I mumbled.

"Oh, come on. I mean you're beautiful, the dress is beyond gorgeous. If I do say so myself, that is like a super combo pack right there." She giggled.

I laughed, "If you think so." I set the dress onto my lap, my hands gliding over the fabric lightly. "Can I see your dress?" I asked, looking up.

"Jenn has it locked up in her closet." Meg replied with a roll of her eyes. "She thinks I'll spill something on it. I mean, I know that I'm clumsy and what not, but not that clumsy... Okay, she was smart to lock it up..."

I laughed, "I guess I can wait."

"Miles!" Jenn hollered and I looked over to her, "Here, Miley can go first." She told the three bickering girls who slumped there shoulders down sadly.

I laughed again, "Come on." I helped Meg up and we walked over to where the other girls were standing around.

"Do we have more than one curling iron?" I asked as I took a seat on Jenn's bed.

"Yeah, I brought one." Kathy said, going over to her bag and pulling it out.

"How about when Jenn is curling mine, someone curl Kathy's and before you know it, we'll be done with curling everyone's hair." I suggested.

"Smart idea." Jenn laughed as everyone else agreed.

**-Who you are is falling over me.  
Who you are is everything I need.-**

We all posed in front of Jenn's bathroom mirror, giggling from the funny faces that everyone was making as camera flashes went off every few seconds. I was pretty sure, a lot of these pictures were blurry, but none of us seemed to care.

Meg showed me one of the pictures and I laughed, "We look so weird right there." I said and pointed to me and Meg, who were making weird faces, making the two of us crack up again and another flash went off.

"Ah, my battery is going to die." Kathy said running back into the room to charge it into the charger. "Guys, we have about 15 minutes before Joe and Nick come up here to tell us to shut up." Kathy warned us.

The remaining five of us just continued to goof around Kathy poked her head inside. "Miley, someone's here to see you," She singsonged and smiled before walking into the room.

"Who is it?" I asked, trying to play clueless.

The other girls pushed me out, "Go find out." Jenn laughed, shutting the bathroom door after I got out.

"Wow, guys. That was so nice!" I called back, hearing the eruption of giggles from inside. I smoothed out my dress and felt two hands slide around my waist, causing me to jump up a little.

"You look amazingly gorgeous right now." Nick whispered into my ear, causing a shiver to run throughout my body.

I turned around to face him and blushed, "Thank you." I smiled sheepishly. "You look really good too." I smiled, referring down to the suit that he was now wearing.

"I may look good, but you look amazing." He kissed me on my cheek and I could feel myself flush a deeper pink color. He moved a stray piece of hair behind my ear and brought his hand to my cheek, stroking it gently. "It sucks that you aren't my date tonight." He murmured. "I have to share you with Joe." His gaze dropped down.

I turned a little and kissed his hand, "You may be sharing me with Joe tonight, but I'm _your_ girl, Nick, not Joe's." I smiled and got on my tiptoes, giving him a passionate kiss.

Nick pulled away, a smile painted on his face. "Wow." He leaned his forehead on top of mine, but quickly brought his head back.

"What?" I asked.

"I don't want Jenn mad at me if I messed up your hair." He said, interlacing our hands together. I heard a giggle come from behind me and a flash go off. I turned around and saw Jenn with a camera in her hand.

"Oops?" She smiled and snapped another photo.

This time I stuck out my tongue and wrapped my arms around Nick's torso as another flash went off. I laughed and turned back to face Nick, "How come you let her take pictures and not me?" Nick asked a hint of mock sadness in his voice.

"Because she'll actually give me her camera when I ask for it." I answered with a giggle.

"Not unless I tell her otherwise." Nick smirked.

"Niiick." I whined and set my head down on his chest. "You're mean." I told him, but he just replied back with a chuckle.

"Ah, Miley! Don't mess up your make-up!" Jenn screeched from the bathroom door. I quickly backed away from Nick, the three of us frowning.

"Are you girls ready to go now?" Joe walked into the room and stood next to me. He draped an arm around my shoulder and I reddened as I saw the look on Nick's face. Everyone nodded, "So, who's riding with who?"

"Miley, Angie, and Kathy are riding with you. Me, Meg, and Yanny are riding with Nick. Is everything alright with that?" She asked as everyone grabbed their clutches. I nodded, keeping my eyes down to my heels.

"We should probably get going before traffic starts to build up at school." Joe told everyone as he led me to the door. "You look beautiful tonight." He told me as we walked down the stairs.

"Thank you." I blushed. "You look really nice too." I complimented.

"Nick looked pretty pissed at me up there." Joe said when we exited the house. I turned back and saw Kathy and Angie right behind me.

"Oh." I replied.

Joe opened the door for the three of us before getting into the driver seat. I debated with myself on whether or not to ride in the passenger seat or to ride in the back with Kathy and Angie. Angie gave me an encouraging smile and I took a seat in the front as I saw Nick get into the driver seat in his car.

He flashed me a tight-lipped smile and closed his door. I sighed inwardly and turned to Joe with a smile. "Are you guys ready for tonight?" I asked, shocked by my sudden forwardness. Kathy and Angie cheered as Joe chuckled and I laughed.

Nick pulled out first and Joe soon followed after. Kathy requested for the radio to be on; I reached for the dial the same time Joe had, our fingertips meeting at the same time. "Oh, sorry." I murmured as I withdrew my hand back.

"It's alright." He told me as he turned the music up and soon, Angie and Kathy were singing along with the song that was playing as an awkward silence fell before Joe and I in the front.

"Come on guys, sing. You're being party poopers." Kathy singsonged with Angie from the backseat. I turned around and laughed at how silly they were being. I still didn't feel like bursting out of my comfort zone, so I just sat there as I listened to the beat of the music blare throughout Joe's car.

A few minutes into the car ride, Angie had pulled her camera back out and started snapping random pictures. I felt myself loosen up a little as I started to sing a long with the song that was playing on the radio. Joe turned and pretended to scold everyone for bothering him while he was driving, only to cause everyone to burst out into laughter. We had stopped at a stoplight; I turned and saw Nick in the lane next to us. I smiled and waved over at everyone.

Everyone in Nick's car waved and smiled back. I laughed as I saw Kathy making a face at them from the rearview mirror. Soon, the red light had turned green and the two cars were back on their way towards the school. We parked in the school parking lot and stepped out of the car. Jenn, Angie, Kathy, Yanny, and Meg saw there dates standing at the entrance of the Gym.

"Oh my god, Jared looks hot." I heard Kathy whisper.

"Mm." Angie pretended to lick her lips, causing Kathy to gasp and smack her in the arm. Everyone laughed as I looked over at Nick who was casually looking around for Marissa.

"I'll be right back." I told Joe and he nodded and started catching up with the others.

I walked over to him and smiled, "Hey there." I smiled. "I've never seen you here before." I joked.

Nick chuckled, "Well, I haven't seen you here before either." He played along.

"I'm Miley." I put my hand out.

"Nick." He grabbed my hand and brought it to his lips, kissing it gently. I giggled, but quickly stopped when someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around to see Marissa standing there in a pretty orange dress, her hair half up.

"That's my date; I suggest you go find yours." She told me coldly and I took my hand away from Nick.

"I'll see you inside." I said as I turned around to catch up with Joe.

"Marissa's a bitch." Jenn told me when I appeared next to her.

"You saw?" I asked as I spotted Joe by a group of his friends.

"Yeah, everyone heard her loud shrilly voice." Jenn rolled her eyes and I laughed.

"I'll catch up with you later." I said as I started to walk around a few people.

"You better! You owe me a dance!" Jenn said over the music.

I looked back and laughed; I caught up with Joe and stood next to him. "And this is my date, Miley. Miley, you know everyone." He chuckled as he slid his arm around my waist.

"Hey guys." I greeted.

They returned their hellos; Joe turned to me, "Do you want to dance or get something to eat first?" He leaned in to my ear, so that I could hear what he was saying. "I heard they have this gourmet dinner set up somewhere."

"That sounds good." I replied in the same close proximity.

He explained to his friends where they were going and within a few seconds, his arm was back around my waist, leading me through crowds of people as we made our way to the food table at the back.

I dodged all the cups filled with punch, careful not to get anything on my dress, knowing it would take hours to take out. "Fancy meeting you here." Meg joked when she saw me and Joe approach the table. I took a seat next to her; Joe sat down in front of me and called the waiter over.

"Is it good?" I asked, pointing down to her plate, not sure what was on it. It looked too fancy to be chicken.

"It's really weird how our sucky ass school can afford this for formal." Meg said, taking another bite. "It's steak." She said, nodding her head in approval. "It's bomb." She told me with her mouth full.

I laughed and saw that my plate had arrived. "Do you know what it is?" Joe asked, oblivious to the conversation that Meg and I just had.

"It's steak." I told him and his face lit up. I laughed and took a bite, a burst of flavor hitting my tongue. I chewed and swallowed happily. "It's really good." I told both Joe and Meg.

"Mm-hmm." They both said at the same time, still eating.

"Who knew our school could afford this." Joe said.

"I know right." Meg said, taking another bite. "So, this is where all the money goes to. I should go to formal more often." She laughed.

"I'm with you on that." Joe picked up his glass of soda and clanked glasses with Meg. I just sat there and watched the two of them conversate, occasionally adding a snippet or two of what I wanted to say. I saw that Meg's date was paying no attention to her, busy flirting with a girl on the other side of him, but Meg didn't seem to mind at the time. She was too busy laughing at something Joe was currently telling her."

I smiled as I saw the way her body shook when giggles had overpowered it. I cleared my throat absentmindedly and the two of them turned to me. "Oh, sorry." I told them.

"No, I'm sorry. I'm stealing your date away from you." Meg said.

"It's okay. You guys are just having a fun time. I'm going to get some punch." I told them, getting up from my seat. They nodded and continue back into their conversation. I waved at Jenn when I saw her on the dance floor with her date; she waved me over, but I shook my head and pointed to the empty cup in my hand.

She gave me a look and I just shrugged, before disappearing into a crowd of people. I saw Yanny's dress and my eyes widened a little as I saw her kissing someone. _She has a boyfriend?_ I asked myself, brushing past them. She pulled away and saw me, her cheeks quickly turning pink.

"Oh, hey Miley." She said sheepishly.

"Hey. Who's this?" I asked.

"This is my boyfriend, Marco. Marco, this is my friend, Miley." She introduced the two of us. Marco nodded at me.

"Nice to meet you Marco." I smiled and leaned in to Yanny. "Details at the sleepover." She blushed again and nodded as I turned around to find the punch table.

I finally found it, greedily filling my cup to the top. I took a big mouthful, thirsty from taking so long to find the punch table. I refilled my cup again and looked back to the crowd, knowing that this would definetly spill if I tried to go through it. I took another sp and set the cup on the table and looked around casually, waving every once and a while when I saw someone.

"Hey." I heard someone from behind me.

I turned around and saw Adrian, decked out in a black suit with a white dress shirt undershirt underneath. My mouth formed a small 'o' as I stood there in shock. "Oh my gosh, you're in a suit." I said.

"Yeah, I know. Once I told my mom I was coming, she made me go get one." He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Does it look okay?" He asked.

"Y-yeah, you look great." I answered.

He sighed in relief, "I thought I looked horrible." He chuckled.

I laughed, "Did you just get here?" I asked.

"Yeah, about 10 minutes ago. Someone should've warned me about how much the dance cost." He nudged me a little.

"Oops, sorry." I smiled innocently at him. "I forgot."

"Hm, right." He chuckled, "You look really nice, by the way." Adrian complimented and I smiled.

"Thanks. Jenn helped pick it out for me a few days back." I replied, looking down at my dress. "Are you hungry? They're serving like the best steak." I told him.

"I don't eat meat." He replied. He must've seen the look on my face because he started to explain. "My mom's a vegan, so she kind of got me into the not eating meat stuff, but I'm a vegetarian." He told me.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to react like that." I replied blushing. "That's really cool though, isn't it hard resisting the urge to eat meat?" I asked curiously.

"It was at first, but I got used to it over the years. I've learned to love vegetables and fruits." He laughed. "That's why I'm a health nut."

I giggled, "I heard they're serving fruit salads if you want to go get one or something." I said.

"Yeah, sounds good. Are you hear alone?" He asked.

"Oh, no. My date is Joe, but I left him with my friend at the back, so I could get a cup of punch." I turned around to see my cup gone. "Well, someone stole it…" I said.

Adrian laughed, "People are weird and disgusting these days."

"Mhm, probably." I laughed. "Come on; let's go get your salad." I grabbed his hand, not noticing that people around us were watching and already whispering like the wind about it. We walked through groups of people dancing as the adrenaline rush finally hit me, making me want to dance with the tune that was now bouncing around the big Gym area. We reached the table and saw Joe sitting there by himself.

"I'll meet you over here." I told Adrian and let go of his hand. He nodded and walked over to Joe, "What happened to Meg?" I asked.

"Riker or whatever his name was, her date asked her to dance, so she went off with him." He replied.

Seeing the disappointed look on his face, "Come on, let's go dance." I put my hand out, still surprised by my forwardness.

"You dance?" He asked as he took my hand and we walked onto the dance floor.

"Not well." I replied and he chuckled.

The nerves suddenly hit my body when the next song came on, 'Electric Guitar by Chris Brown' started playing and soon I forgot that I was standing on the dance floor. I stood there frozen as Joe stood in front of me awkwardly.

"Just let the body move to the beat of the music." He suggested, guiding my hips a little. I blushed as I tried to do it on my own. Within a few minutes, I had found the beat in the song and the two of us were just dancing around, having a fun time. I laughed as Joe tried to pull of a hilarious move, attracting a few people to stare. I laughed and clapped as he continued and soon a crowd of people had formed around us, clapping and cheering along as well.

The song ended and a new one replaced it and soon Joe stopped dancing, surprised to see a crowd of people around him. The crowd dispersed and I laughed, "Major moves."

"I didn't even notice all the people." He chuckled. "Wow, I'm tired. Aren't you?" He asked. I shook my head, "I wasn't the one who dance so much." I laughed.

"Good point. I'm going to get a drink, you want to come?" He asked.

"Uh, I need to meet up with Adrian." I told him and he nodded an okay before walking into the crowd. I walked back to the table and saw Adrian. "Hello." I took a seat in front of him. "Enjoying your salad?" I giggled.

"Yes, actually, I am." He chuckled. "Looks like you were having a good time." He said.

"Yeah, I did, surprisingly." I smiled. "The song was really dancy and so is the one playing." I fanned myself. "Come on, I owe you that dance." I said standing up again.

"Yeah, but I'm eating." He said, pointing down to the empty plate.

"There's nothing there." I laughed.

"Right…" He stood up and we walked back onto the dance floor. Suddenly, the song changed to a slower beat song and I saw a lot of people empty towards the table. A few people stayed and slowed dance. "Do you want to wait?" Adrian asked.

"We can dance still." I said and nervously put my arms around his waist as his draped onto my hips. "I'm going to apologize beforehand if I step on your foot." I whispered.

"It's okay. I'm going to apologize if I do too." We both laughed and swayed side to side as the song played on. Not noticing, I rested my head on his shoulder and felt his head lean on mine.

"I like this song." I said.

"I do too." He answered and we continued to move side to side on the dance floor, careful not to bump into anyone that was dancing besides us. I caught sight of the familiar orange dress and lifted my head, making Adrian lift his head up as well. Just as I looked up, there was Marissa and Nick dancing. My face saddened as I saw how close they were; they turned and soon I locked eyes with Nick, his eyes were sad too, probably from seeing me and Adrian dance.

I looked down and continued to dance around with Adrian. The song ended and I quickly separated from him, dropping my arms back down to my side. "Are you alright?" Adrian asked, sensing something was up.

"I just need to use the restroom, excuse me." I turned around and pushed my way through people before Adrian had a chance to say anything. I felt someone following me, thinking it was Adrian. I turned around to tell him that I was going to be okay, only to be face to face with Nick. "Oh." I said.

"Where are you going?" He asked quietly.

"I-I don't know, restroom?" I said, more like a question instead of a statement. "So, you were uh, really close to Marissa." I played with my hands, not wanting to look at his face.

"And you were really close to Adrian." He replied back.

"Sorry." I said.

"I'm not mad, Miles." Nick told me and I looked up to look at him. "I just got jealous." He mumbled the last word and I gave him a small smile.

"I felt that way too… Marissa looks really pretty tonight." I sighed.

Nick shrugged, "I didn't notice."

"How could you not? I mean look at her." I said.

"Why would I want to look at her when there's a gorgeous girl standing right here in front of me?" He asked and I blushed.

"Don't do that." I said.

He chuckled, "Do what? Tell you that you're the best looking one here?" He asked, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulled me closer. "Because it's true." He whispered in my ear and I felt my stomach erupt with butterflies.

"Stop it." I buried my face in his chest, trying not to smile.

"You owe me a dance tonight, Miles." He whispered in my ear again, sending another chill down my spine.

I pulled back to look at him and nodded, "Got it." I replied.

"I should probably get back to Marissa." Nick said glumly.

"Pretend that she's me." I suggested.

"But then I'll want to kiss her." He replied and I scrunched my face up. "But I won't do that." He answered quickly. He then leaned in and gave me a quick kiss.

I sighed when he pulled away, "She's coming." I let go of him and turned around to walk back to find Joe or something.

"Boo!" Jenn out from behind a few people, who were now giving her strange looks, but she didn't care. "Are you having a fun time?" She asked as we continued walking.

"Yeah, sort of." I replied.

"Awh, what's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing. I just can't spend anytime with Nick right now." I answered.

"Oh yeah, that witch is in the way?" Jenn asked and I nodded. "Ugh, she seems to ruin everyone's fun, but hey, I'm pretty sure Nick will ditch her eventually. Come on, let's go dance." We were just about to reach Joe, but Jenn pulled me back onto the dance floor where we met up with Meg, Angie, Kathy, and Yanny dancing along to 'Waking Up in Vegas by Katy Perry.'

The sadness that was once in my body had washed off as I started to dance around with everyone. I laughed as we scrunched together, hoping to get a good group photo, only to get pushed around by the people around us. I laughed as I saw the pout on Angie's face, grabbing her hands and making her dance around.

"That's what you get for waking up in Vegas!" We all sang and laughed. Joe popped out of nowhere and soon danced around the group of us, making us push him around repeatedly. He just continued to bump hips with everyone. I smiled when I saw the blush appear on Meg's face when he bumped hips with her, but she tried to cover it up.

"Do you see what I see?" Jenn asked.

"Yeah." I answered. "They're so cute."

"Agh, what's with my best friends dating my brothers?" She asked and I laughed.

"They're cute that's why." I replied.

"Well, that's unfair for me. You guys don't have any brothers." She pouted, making me giggle again.

"I have this cute cousin back in New York. I think he's coming to visit this Summer." I told her and she immediately smiled.

"Sweet, introduce us." Jenn said.

I laughed again, "Alright."

'Dirty Pop by 'NSYNC' suddenly came on. Jenn and I glanced over at each other and busted out in a fit of laughter. "This song is so old." She told me as we danced around.

"I'm surprised no one's complaining." I said as I looked around and saw that almost everyone was now on the dance floor.

"Because it's like their catchiest song." Jenn replied and saw my eyes wandering around. "So, who are you looking at?" She danced around and blocked my eyes from looking any further. She raised her eyebrows at me, "Are you looking for Nick?" She asked.

"No, Adrian." I replied, but quickly regretted it because the others had heard.

"Who's Adrian?" Angie asked.

"You're not talking about the one that is friends with Nick, right?" Kathy questioned.

"The buff one?" Yanny asked.

"I don't even know who you guys are talking about." Meg said confused.

"Uhm, yes, he is the one that is friends with Nick and he's just a friend. I was with him earlier and he's just a loner right now." I replied. Everyone turned to get a glimpse of him. Angie waved over at him flirtily and he waved back, giving me a confused glance. I motioned for him to come over, but he shook his head and declined.

"You scared him, Ang." Kathy joked.

"Shut up." Angie shot back and everyone laughed and continued to dance with the beat of the song.

"He seems shy." Jenn said quietly in my ear.

I shrugged, "I really don't know. Maybe he doesn't like to dance?" I said.

"Well, go ask him to. It looks like Angie wants to meet him." She laughed.

"The thing is, he has a crush on me." I mumbled back to her and watched as her eyes went wide.

"He what?! I thought he was Nick's friend?" She whispered loudly.

He is. Nick told me earlier. I mean, I don't really know if he does or not, but that's what Nick told me and I'll feel awkward to ask if he does or not and I don't want to mess up the friendship we have." I replied with a sigh. The song ended and everyone started to disperse back to their seats.

"Well, he does know you're back with Nick right?" Jenn asked.

I shook my head, "I doubt anyone in school knows that we are. I mean, you and the girls know and Nick. I don't even know if Joe does." I replied.

"Yeah, I know." Joe said out of nowhere, making Jenn glare at him. "Well, I do. I mean I heard whoever screamed it out. Who was that anyways?" He asked.

Jenn looked away, "That was you?" I asked.

"Maybe…" She replied, the three of us laughed. "Now, butt out Joe." She pushed him away and he huffed, fixing his suit.

"I'll tell Adrian before the night ends." I told her.

"Well, you better soon before he thinks you're still single and he asks you out or worse, he kisses you." My eyes went wide as I thought about it. "Just telling you now." Jenn said, taking a seat next to Yanny.

**-I'm hoping, I'm waiting, I'm praying you are the one.**

**I'm hoping, I'm waiting, I'm praying you are the one.-**

It was now down to the last hour of the dance; the others were on the dance floor jamming along to 'Hey Yo! by Brooke Hogan.' While I sat here and looked around for Nick, trying to spot Marissa's obvious orange dress, but didn't seem to see it. My shoulders slumped down a little and saw Adrian take a seat next to me.

"Hey, Miley, I've been meaning to ask you something." He said and I turned to face him slowly. Oh my god, please don't let it be what I think it is. Please. I thought to myself.

"I know we just met and all, but you're a really cool girl—" I quickly cut him off before he could go any further.

"Nick and I are back together." I blurted out and saw his face expression change.

"Oh, you guys did? I didn't know." I heard the disappointment drip in his tone.

"Yeah…" I said, silence washing over the two of us awkwardly. "I'm sorry."

"Uhm, it's alright." He replied in a stiff tone.

"I'd like it if we could stay friends or something." I suggested hopefully.

"Yeah, sure." He got up and left me, sitting there feeling extremely guilty. I sighed, wanting to go home now. I felt a strange feeling burst into my stomach and I propped my chin onto my hand and sighed again, watching everyone else dance on the dance floor. "Life is so complicated."

"Got that right." I heard someone sigh in front of me. I looked up and to my surprise it was Marissa. "Look, I want to apologize for hitting you that one day. I didn't think I'd actually hit you and I apologized to Jenn too for trying to hit her." Marissa told me.

"Er apology accepted?" I replied.

"Nick really likes you, you know that right?" She sighed again and looked down at her manicured nails. She played with them for a while, and then looked up. "I truly am sorry for being such a big bitch to you, jealously just gets the worse of me." With that, she got up and left the table, leaving me staring at her empty seat, dumbfounded.

I shook my head, still not believing that she had just apologized to me. I got up from my seat, knocking into someone's drink. I fell back into my seat, the cup of fruit punch falling onto my lap. I gasped when the cold liquid hit my thighs; I looked up and saw a guilty looking Nick staring back at me.

"Miley, I am so sorry." He grabbed a few napkins from the table and dabbed the spot, but soon got really embarrassing when he noticed what he was doing. I blushed as well and grabbed the napkins from his hands and did it myself.

"It's okay, really." I continued to dab the napkin over the pink stain on my dress.

"Maybe you should go to the bathroom." Nick said guilt still in his voice.

"No, it's okay. No big deal." I looked up at him and gave him a smile to reassure that I was okay. "Its okay, Nick."

"No, it's not." He replied when a few people had started to stare. He grabbed my hand and led me outside to the courtyard.

"Nick, where are we going?" I asked.

Nick sighed, "I saw Marissa talking to you earlier and I want to say sorry for anything rude things that she said to you."

"Nick—"

"Because whatever she said is probably untrue and I don't want you to think that something is wrong." He rambled on.

"Nick." I put my finger to his lips. "All she did was say sorry to me."

"Like I said, I—she what?" He asked, surprised.

"Yeah, I felt the same way, but all she did was say sorry, then left. I guess we're good now?" I said, still a bit unsure.

"That was sure unexpected." Nick scratched the back of his head.

"Is that the only reason you brought me out here?" I asked.

"No, I also wanted to have some alone time with you." Nick smiled a little and pushed back the stray hears that had fell loose from my hair tie.

I smiled, "Tonight's been really fun."

"Yeah, it has. It would've been better though." Nick replied.

"Why do you say that?" I asked and fixed his tie a little, giggling at how uncomfortable it made him. "I don't think the tie goes with the suit." I said.

"Yeah, too much?" Nick asked, loosening it a little before taking it off.

"There, you look even more handsome." I said and he blushed, but tried not to show it.

It felt kind of weird; me being the forward one for a change and Nick being the one that was acting shy. It was a good kind of weird though. 'Catch Me by Demi Lovato' came on and Nick led me toward the Garden; Christmas lights were light up around the fountain. We were the only two people out there at the time. Nick took my head and gently spun me before resting his hands around my waist, mine falling loosely around his neck as we waltzed around slowly to the words of the song.

"I'm really glad I got to meet someone like you." Nick murmured, capturing my lips in a sweet kiss.

I smiled, "I'm really glad that I met you too."

We continued to dance under the stars, the moonlight shining upon us lightly as the song soon came to an end. I looked up at him as he looked down at me, smiles playing on both of our faces as we leaned in to share another breathtaking kiss. We just stood there, happy to be in each other's embrace. Who would've thought me, Miley Stewart would have ever been able to meet a guy like Nick Gray. For once, I didn't feel so _shy_ anymore and honestly, it felt amazing.

**The end. (': I hope you guys enjoyed the story even though I wrote like two chapters... lol. OMG, Katy won 2 of the 4 NJK awards she was nominated for and guess what? It was SHY! Best Niley and Best Story! You should've seen how excited Katy was. Thank you all so much for voting for her! Tune in for more chapters of Twenty One and a new upcoming story that I'm working on. Byeee. 500 reviews? (:**


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